by Istituto Italiano OBOR, Discoverplaces.travel and CPAFFC
Do you know how many languages are spoken in China? Do you know how many Chinese cities have millennial traditions? Do you really know Chinese cuisine from the different Provinces?
If we do not know how to answer these questions, it is difficult to think of building cultural and commercial relations between China and Italy. Two countries with a thousand-year history like ours must also be able to meet on a cultural level through mutual knowledge.
Today China represents the ideal market for many of our small and medium-sized enterprises and its knowledge is fundamental, also because other opportunities for cooperation between our countries and between companies may arise.
Enhancing the hidden beauty of Chinese cities is therefore the goal of the Discover China program, that is the new territorial marketing initiative co-organized by the Italian Obor Institute, the Discoverplaces.travel portal and the China People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries ( CPAFFC).
The project was born on the wave of the success of the Belt and Road Exhibition 2021, which brought Italian cities and regions into contact with Chinese counterparts, and from last year's contest that sowed the seeds of mutual knowledge.
The Discover China initiative wants to be a support for the initiatives of 2022, the Year of Culture and Tourism Italy and China, in which all economic operators hope will support and revive the economy of our country.
What is Discover China?
Discover China is a pillar dedicated to the discovery of Chinese cities with the emphasis that they will be described by Chinese citizens. Last year we saw the participation of students, entrepreneurs, professors and even young students who talked about their link with their city of origin. This year we will focus more on knowing the true spirit of the cities and our task will be to edit and translate in Italian and English providing a really free consultation to the Chinese city.
According to Claudia Bettiol, founder of Discoverplaces.travel, “Our role will be to become natural links between Italian and Chinese cities that, thanks to their respective knowledge, will be able to plan future events and cooperations. We will collaborate directly with the internationalization offices of Chinese cities and, while communicating their beauty, we will be able to guide them in the knowledge of the magnificent realities of Italy"
The engine of the initiative is the OBOR Institute, which for years has been engaged in international relations and cultural exchanges between Italy and China, through its tireless president Michele De Gasperis: "The Italian OBOR Institute strongly believes that pacification, at the basis of all Belt and Road initiatives, is the fundamental prerequisite for launching initiatives with clear economic repercussions. This initiative, which leads to greater mutual knowledge, thanks to the participation of the CPAFFC, may have future economic repercussions on tourism systems and SMEs. We are sure that the project will help bring cities and these very distant countries closer together, stimulating curiosity and friendship between the cities."
Helping Chinese cities to explain their uniqueness to find ideas for new twinning and cooperation is a step towards the return of international travel and closer cooperation between the Italian and Chinese territories.
The Promoters
Since 2017, the Italian OBOR Institute has been a reference body for institutions and companies that intend to deal with the Asian market. It brings together people, experiences and proposals within the framework of the Belt and Road program. It is aimed at Chinese organizations interested in deepening relations and cooperation with Italy.
Discoverplaces.travel is a web portal and consulting company that helps the tourism development of the Italian territories. Founded by Claudia Bettiol, engineer, PhD and Netpreneur, it collaborates with universities (Italian and foreign), government bodies and institutions to create connections between Italian territories and Chinese cities.
The China People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) is one of the three main foreign affairs organizations of the People's Republic of China. The organization manages China's twin city relations. Its purpose is to promote friendship and mutual understanding between the Chinese people and foreign nations.
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