Italy's Environment Minister, Corrado Clini, has travelled to Tianjin, 100 kilometres outside Beijing, for the opening of Meng Joss House, a complex dating back to the beginning of the 20th century located in an area of the city that at the time was given over to Italy as a trading base.
During his visit, Clini has held talks with senior figures from the city's authorities. "We have identified several areas of collaboration with Tianjin, which range from the cycle of industrial water treatment to the possibility of connecting Tianjin to an Italian city," the minister said. "This could be Florence, which is at the centre of a production area already linked to Chinese consumers, as it home to an enormous outlet of major Italian brands, Florentia Village, one of the city's main tourist attractions along with the old Italian quarter.
There could also be collaboration involving the industrial port. The ministry already has an interesting programme with the port of Trieste connecting port and environment activity, which could be of interest to Tianjin. Finally, we will finish renovation works on the old Italian quarter". The old Italian concession is a complex of art deco building that spreads through a number of roads and has been renovated with the help of Italian businesses and experts. Today, it is a shopping and entertainment area, Meng Joss House has been restored by the Favero firm and is fed by geothermal renewable sources, a scheme for which costs have been divided between China and Italy. Italy has provided 2.2 million euros for an area of 1,700 square metres. The Italian ambassador to China, Attilio Massimo Iannucci, says that Tianjin is a showroom and the key to new collaborations. "Tianjin shares an aesthetic heritage with some parts of Italy and it would be absurd not to promote this. The restoration of Meng Joss has important symbolic value and, with minister Clini, we already have many ideas to share with our Chinese partners on how best to use this beautiful corner of Italy in China," the ambassador said.
