MILAN, Jun 7(Class Editori) – Among the many events one should not be missing out in Shanghai, the Golden Pandas are certainly one of early June business’ hot appointments, rewarding Italian and Chinese companies for their notable performance in the territory of the People's Republic.
And the fact that the event has now reached its 10th edition comes as a testimony of the success and the stability that the Italian community has managed to achieve.
The 2019 edition of the event – organized by the Italian Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Fondazione Italia Cina (Italy-China Foundation), and with the support of the Ministry of Economic Development and of the Italian Embassy in Beijing – hosted more than 500 guests, offering them a fantastic mix of important speeches, awards, culture, food, and the pleasure of sharing an evening together.
But first things first – when rushing to relate everything, it becomes easy to forget or skip some minor yet significant bits and pieces.
Here, the success factor was having Italy and its relationship with China as center stage protagonist. The location's broad foyer made for the evening’s foretaste. The reception offered some reproductions of Leonardo da Vinci's famous machinery, helping directing the guests' gaze toward the many stalls showcasing a variety of Italian products. After all, the theme of the night was the 500-year celebration of Leonardo's death – a character subject of much research and yet still delivering inspiration.
The heavy burden of such an heritage keeps Italy on track and pushes the country to give its all – as the night could confirm.
An highly-qualified jury examined a number of nominees and selected eight Italian businesses for reward. The winners are: Giacomini Heating and Cooling Technology ( Beijing ), for the "SMEs Golden Panda"; Comau Shanghai Engineering and Itema Weaving Machinery (China), both for "Large Golden Panda"; Tecystem Shanghai for "Strategy and Promotion Golden Panda". Intesa SanPaolo gathered a recognition in the New Silk Road category, while Costa Crociere was awarded for Italian Lifestyle. Finally, Icona Design & Engineering for Innovation, Research and Development; Savino del Bene Shanghai as "Long-lasting – Time Honored"; and Lin Mara for the CICC Friends category.
Since my company has received the award for the Longlasting, I would like to point out how the twelve hundred Italian companies present in the consular district of Shanghai – that includes important cities such as Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wuxi – can be considered as imitators of a past that, as demonstrated by the documents and research carried out by the Institute of Culture, show at the end of the nineteenth century and in the Shanghai of the twenties a vitality, obviously in reduced proportions, of how Italians used to do business in China; just a reference to a pioneer of the textile industry, Giuseppina Croci who, in her diary, A ship for Shanghai, tells of her experience in Shanghai between the two centuries.
The contribution of Chinese companies in spreading Italian brands – as in the case of Lin Mara (Shanghai), importer of Max Mara – is also highly significant. Finally, to validate the combination mentioned above, the IGNITE award with innovative projects by young Italians and Chinese.
If we connect these three segments, we will obtain a circular figure that can represent Leonardo's famous drawing as a conjunction of the different components based on the centrality of man over the centuries.
This model was explained in the various speeches at the beginning of the evening and also the video for the candidacy of Milan and Cortina at the Winter Olympics, brought us back to the intrinsic beauty of our country.
Goethe stated that: "Italians generally have a deeper feeling for the high dignity of art than other peoples".
By chance I read an article on an Italian newspaper about "Scapilliata", a very famous work by Leonardo exhibited these days in Parma. What is striking is the look that comes from this face reclined in persuasive joy and perhaps he ideally came to us from Parma in his wooden coeval frame with the work that led my imagination to think that the models on display in the foyer, especially the flywheel and camshaft, were of the same Italian walnut wood used by Leonardo.
*edited by Marco Leporati, General Manager at Savino Del Bene – transport and logistics company active in China since 25 years.
(Source:Class Editori)
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