Italian entrepreneurs in China have to be “more courageous” like the Venetian explorer Marco Polo, Italian Premier Matteo Renzi said speaking to 400 members of the Italian business community in the former Italian Pavilion of Shanghai’s Expo 2010 trade fair. “We will do our part, we are revolutionising the system,” said the premier. “We are not afraid and I ask those of you who fly the Italian flag abroad to be even more courageous”.
The premier said that Italian businesses must do more to improve the terms of trade between Italy and China. China buys 10 billion euros worth of products from Italy compared to as much as 23 billion of Chinese products bought by Italians. “The country has to do more to export, improving also direct investments,” said Renzi. “When we say in Italy that we want to carry out reforms we want to create work, to create conditions for change”.
In the evening Renzi flew to Beijing where today and tomorrow he will have a series of meetings with Chinese leaders and the business community. Today he also will Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang. Renzi began his trade mission on Monday in Vietnam.