On November 6, 2018, during the first China International Import Exhibition, Mr. Tu Guangshao, Vice-Chairman & President of CIC attended and spoke at the 5^th China-Italy Business Forum and witnessed the signing ceremony of the Forum.

In his speech, President Tu said that since the establishment of CIC as China's sovereign wealth fund more than 10 years ago, CIC's investment in Italy has exceeded 1.5 billion US dollars. As a long-term institutional investor, CIC is keen on tapping into Italy's core industrial advantages and positive economic prospects. Italian enterprises enjoy special advantages and potentials, and the complementarity of the two economies and Italy's openness towards foreign investors bring CIC a lot of investment opportunities.

President Tu said that the incumbent government of Italy has made economic development its top priority, while attaching great importance to developing Italy-China relations. China is further opening up and its consumers are more into high-quality and personalized products and services. Italian products are fancy, aesthetical and handcrafted. And China's vast market with consumption upgrading constitutes a 'gold mine' for Italy to dig. Lots of investment opportunities can emerge.

President Tu said that last month, he paid a visit to Italy and met with key government officials and heads of top financial institutions and enterprises. They had deep discussions about establishing a bilateral fund, namely China-Italy Industrial Cooperation Fund (the Fund). The idea was broadly echoed. CIC aims to tap into the advantages of Italian enterprises and bridge Italian financial institutions and enterprises with the Chinese market, and via the Fund, provide financial support for Italian enterprises and increase industrial investment. This will not only boost Italy's economic development, but also advance China's industrial restructuring and consumption upgrading with win-win results. In addition, we also hope to leverage the Fund as an open platform to enhance common development and bilateral investment, economic and trade cooperation. The Fund calls for the support of guidance of the two governments, but the key lies in sticking to commercial operations to tap into market forces. We have been in close touch with Italian partners including CDP to accelerate the establishment of the Fund.

President Tu stressed that as a long-term financial investor, CIC invests on a commercial basis without seeking control of companies in its portfolio. It strictly complies with the laws and regulations of China and recipient countries or regions. Setting up bilateral funds is a key component of CIC's efforts to develop new ways for outbound investment and building an ecological system for cross-border investment. In establishing bilateral funds, we adhere to the following principles: the first is to be commercially viable, market-oriented and sustainable. The second is co-sponsorship, interest alignment and win-win. The third is joint management, complementarity and synergy. Last year, CIC and Goldman Sachs established the China-US Industrial Cooperation Fund. Against the backdrop of China-US trade wars, this fund has not only finished the first closing of 1.5 billion US dollars but also conducted its first investment. At present, CIC and Goldman Sachs are actively enhancing post-investment management to create value. Two weeks ago, CIC signed a MOU with 5 Japanese key financial institutions on jointly establishing the China-Japan Industrial Cooperation Fund, which will hopefully be mutually beneficial and play an active role in deepening China-Japan economic and trade cooperation. In the meantime, CIC is also preparing for other bilateral funds.

'2019 marks the 15^th anniversary of the establishment of China-Italy Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and 2020 marks the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Italy. The bilateral relations now stand at a new historical point', said President Tu. He also said that CIC welcomes Chinese and Italian enterprises to join the Fund, and CIC is open to deep communication with entrepreneurs about investment cooperation opportunities, so as to promote the market integration and economic and trade cooperation between China and Italy.