The potential BRI agreement to be signed between China and Italy is projected to create a lot of business opportunities on both sides and is especially expected to support the Italian economy which is currently under a technical recession. However, some industries have already been taking advantage of the potential that lies within Italy-China partnerships. One such industry is logistics.

Savino Del Bene is an international company with its headquarters in Florence. The company, which provides multi-model transportation services around the world, has over 4,000 employees. Over the years, Savino Del Bene has been working so closely with China that the management decided to open branches in China in the year 2000. Since then, the company has opened 10 offices across China.

In 2018, Savino Del Bene exported almost 80,000 TEUs from China, while it serviced the imports of almost 35,000 TEUs to China.

Fabio Nocentini, the executive vice president of the company, pointed out the importance of getting to know each other when collaborating with international partners such as China. 

"Since China is a huge country with very different mentalities, religions, and ways of doing business, to have people there, our own people, Italian, Chinese, people from other countries of Savino Del Bene, it's important, it's a personal approach to the people, to the factories that we want to do business with," said Nocentini.

Alberto Rivola, the head of Global Ocean Procurement, has spent eight years of his career in Shanghai. 

Rivola said the collaboration between Chinese and Italian business people creates a good combination and he strongly believes that "the success of our company in the Far East has been able to mix the best of both cultures, the Italian creativity with the Chinese hard work."

Some international companies, such as Savino Del Bene, have realized the potential of the Chinese market and are adjusting their goals accordingly. 

Savino Del Bene leaders said they "are really focusing on exports to China because the Chinese consumer is spending more now, we are trying to divert our strategy and look more toward the Chinese consumer and to service the Chinese market, improving our presence in China and improving the supply chain to Chinese customers, also not just final consumer but also business to business."

And this is exactly what Chinese officials have been stressing as well – regarding the opportunities that will be created by closer ties between China and Italy.

China's Vice Foreign Minister stated that during President Xi Jinping's visit on March 22-23, China and Italy are expected to "sign inter-government cooperation documents in areas such as diplomacy, economy, trade, and culture, as well as commercial agreements in the fields of infrastructure, machinery, and finance."

President Xi too stressed that the "Sino-Italian friendship is reflected in our multi-faceted cooperation." 

In an article published in an Italian daily on March 20, President Xi wrote: "As key trading and investment partners for each other, China and Italy have deeply entwined interests."