The second edition of China International Intelligent Industry Expo, also known as Smart China Expo 2019 (hereafter referred to as SCE 2019), was held in Chongqing International Exhibition Centre from August 26^th to 29^th. The event was jointly organised by the Chongqing Municipal People’s Government, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the China Association for Science and Technology.

The first edition of the Smart China Expo was held last year, as the largest and most professional Artificial Intelligence industry fair in China. The expo, themed “Smart Technology: empowering economy, enriching life”, aimed to showcase new products, technologies, business formats and modes of smart technology through conferences, exhibitions, summits and competitions.

President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the SCE 2019, where he emphasised that modern information technology, represented by the internet, big data and artificial intelligence, is witnessing rapid changes, and China attaches great importance to the development of smart technology and industrial digitalisation and advocates for forward-looking, in-depth integration of the digital economy and the real economy. Vice-Premier Liu He attended the opening ceremony in person. This year’s expo attracted over 1,800 participants and 843 companies from 28 countries and regions, including 13 Nobel Prize laureates, two Turing Award winners, two Fields Prize winners, 52 well-known domestic and international academicians, Fortune 500 business leaders and tech giants including Intel, Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba and Xiaomi. Besides, 89 major projects were signed and more than 600 contracted projects were negotiated on and off the site.

As the gateway to Southwest China and a major industrial base, Chongqing has established one of the world’s largest intelligent industry, including big data, artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, intelligent supercomputing, software services, Internet of things, automotive electronics, intelligent robots, intelligent hardware, intelligent network auto, intelligent manufacturing equipment, and digital contents, to create intelligent industrial clusters. SCE 2019 aimed to display Chongqing as an open and inclusive city, offering immense business opportunities to the world, seeking to breathe new life into its traditional industries with the help of big data.

As one of the countries of honour of the Smart China Expo, Italy had an extraordinary pavilion, which well represented the excellence of the Italian industry; during the opening ceremony, influents personalities such as the Counsellor of the Economic and Commercial Office of the Italian Embassy Emanuele De Maigret, together with the Vice President of Chongqing Municipality People’s Assembly Wang Yue, gave a speech and acclaimed the Sino-Italian relations which have recently seen significant boost even in strategic sectors such as aerospace, automotive, semiconductors and new technologies.

Many different initiatives and activities focused on the collaboration between Italy and China, such as the China-Italy Big Data and Smart Transportation Development Summit, were organised during the Expo with the support of the Consulate General of Italy in Chongqing, and registered the presence of important players from the automotive industry. During the summit two Memorandum of Understanding between the China Automotive Engineering Research Institute (CAERI) and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia were also signed.

Follow the list of the Italian Companies and institutions who took part to the SCE:

• Leonardo – with the display of a helicopter for the Emergency Medical Services;
• Saic Fiat Power train Hongyan Co., LTD. (SFH): with the display of an innovative engine for the automotive industry;
• ST Microelectronics which work on the development of Smart Factories for the automotive industry;
• CTF Automobile China Investment with a Ferrari “Portofino” and a Maserati “Levante”;
• MV AGUSTA;
• Danisi Engineering;
• Gruppo -B810;
• Consulate General of Italy in Chongqing (Organiser);
• ITA (Organiser);
• China Italy Chamber of Commerce (Organiser);
• Galileo Galilei Italian Institute (Organiser)