China-Italy Science, Technology and Innovation summit concludes in Beijing

The 12th edition of the China-Italy Science, Technology, and Innovation summit concludes in Beijing today.

The year’s edition of the week of Science, Technology, and Innovation lasted two days and was hosted by China. The summit is a bilateral meeting fostering scientific and technological cooperation. The China-Italy summit began in 2007 from an initiative created by Città della Scienza, a museum in Naples, and presently the summit is a representation for promoting collaboration and enhancing technological cooperation with China.

Since 2007, there has been a steady increase in Chinese and Italian participation with agreements being signed in pivotal sectors for competitive and technological growth. The main outtake from the 12th edition will be a €1.4 million Italian investment over the next two years, which is part of the Global Strategic Partnership, with China deciding to offer visa-free entry to Italians and citizens of five other European countries. China-Italian academic collaboration has drastically increased, with co-publications between China and Italy increasing by 258% between 2013 and 2022. It has also sparked contention, as Italy has the highest number of collaborations with universities funded by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, according to Dutch consulting firm Datenna.