The "Invest in Hunan" Italian Special Promotion Meeting, a key event of the 2024 Hunan-Europe Investment & Trade Promotion Conference, was held in Milan on November 8. The Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Milano, Italian Association of Foreign Trade, Italy China Council Foundation, and other government departments, business associations, as well as more than 30 Italian enterprise representatives attended.

The Hunan economic and trade delegation introduced the province's geographical location, natural resources, industrial foundation, and its advantages in science and technology and culture. Hunan has established economic and trade ties with 235 countries and regions around the world, with a foreign trade value of over 100 billion USD. More than 3,000 foreign-funded enterprises have settled in Hunan, including 211 Fortune Global 500 companies. Hunan is focusing on advanced manufacturing industries, including new energy, intelligent connected vehicle, biomedicine, and electronic information, and productive service industries such as industrial design, sci-tech innovation, technical services, and modern logistics, to build the China-European (Hunan) International Cooperation Demonstration Zone.

Geng Xiewei, commercial counselor at the Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Milano, noted that China and Italy has a broad prospect and huge market potential in high-end manufacturing cooperation. Hunan enterprises, represented by Zoomlion, have been actively building a modern manufacturing base and promoting the globalized brand of "Hunan Smart Manufacturing", showcasing many classic cases of international collaboration. David Doninotti, secretary general of the Italian Association of Foreign Trade, highlighted the importance of strengthening China-Europe and China-Italy partnership through mutual visits of delegations and promotional activities. He looked forward to visiting Hunan in the near future to further advance the cooperation between the two sides.

Italy and Hunan share a long history of exchanges and have experienced steady growth in two-way trade. In 2023, the bilateral trade volume between China and Italy reached 4.16 billion CNY. Of which, Hunan's imports from Italy increased by 36.5% year on year. There are now 21 Italian enterprises investing and starting up business in Hunan, and 7 Hunan-funded enterprises operating in Italy, which further promotes the economic and trade exchanges between the two regions.