in the afternoon of september 6, the florence investment promotion seminar was held in daning dobe e-manor with the joint sponsorship of unesco “creative city” (shanghai) promotion office, shanghai promotion center for city of design, florence municipal government, consulate general of italy in shanghai and italian trade agency.
the leaders of the italian government and shanghai municipal government and entrepreneur representatives of italy and china, a total of nearly one hundred guests, attended this investment promotion seminar. consul general of italy, vice mayor of florence city and relevant responsible persons introduced shanghai & florence – sino-italian design exchange center, related governmental policies and italian investment environment personally.
shanghai & florence – sino-italian design exchange center is the first station of china's creative design forces outside china. in november 2012, florence municipal government and unesco "creative city" (shanghai) promotion office signed an agreement in the florence city hall, officially kicking off its construction. the center is located in palazzo strozzi, a villa in florence. it is the first creative design industry base in europe. as a platform gathering the top chinese and italian design firms, the center will write a new chapter for the cooperation of china and europe in the creative design industry. it will promote the bilateral exchange and cooperation in the field of design and fashion, helping chinese creative enterprises to “introduce those advanced and go outside”.
since the signing of the agreement, the center has held a large number of b2b exchanges and training activities. for example, it organized dozens of shanghai creative design firms in areas of furniture, fashion, porcelain, comic & animation, handcraft and advertising to receive training and attend business communications in ca 'foscari university of venice and polimoda international institute of fashion design and marketing, and visit the world's top brands’ factory and museum (tod's&gucci).
at present, there are already a number of domestic companies intending to enter the florence base, including a-zenith, a renowned a pioneer in chinese european-classic furniture manufacturing for nearly 20 years that produces long-lasting masterpiece with the best efforts of its craftsmen; miracle dynasty, the first brand of bone china tableware for banquets that adheres to world level standards and integrates chinese traditional culture and contemporary life to present elegance and refinement to the world; colored-stone.com.cn, the largest portal for knowledge popularity and promotion of colored gemstones in china that provides gemstones carefully selected by specialists from dozens of countries and hundreds of raw ore zones; shanghai yiyuan cultural and creative architectural design company based on the local cultures of china and adhering to a belief of “architecture reborn from culture”, which blends the nature and culture into architectural design and is dedicated to showing the chinese culture to the world through architectural design.