China increases investment in Italy

Leaders from China and Italy unveiled plans to boost bilateral trade to US$100 billion by 2015, the Financial Times reported. The announcement came as China’s Premier Wen Jiabao toured Italy, promoting China to Italian investors by promising to enhance protection of intellectual property and to treat Italian companies operating in China on an equal footing with domestic firms. Ten business deals between Chinese and Italian firms were signed on Thursday, including two in the telecom sector. The increased investment appears to be part of a broader move away from Chinese investment in mineral-rich developing countries and into more developed, high-tech economies. However, many analysts noted that Chinese firms must also face the same bureaucratic hurdles that have put off many other foreign investors into Italy.