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Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (left) shakes hands with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at a welcoming ceremony in Rome on Thursday. Vincenzo Pinto / AFP
ROME - China will take substantial measures to protect intellectual property rights and to improve the country's investment climate to attract more foreign investors, Premier Wen Jiabao said on Thursday after a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
"The competition around the world is the competition of intellectual property," Wen said. "We will initiate more administrative and legal measures to protect intellectual property and broaden education in society on the need to protect intellectual property.
"I usually tell our entrepreneurs and researchers that protecting intellectual property is a noble type of morality. We cannot leaf through documents without permission, even if the documents are just lying on the table, let alone plagiarize them," Wen said.
In regard to the investment environment in China, Wen said all foreign enterprises will enjoy the same level of treatment as their Chinese counterparts.
"We consider Italian companies that invest in China as our own enterprises, which means they will receive the same fair and equal treatment in bidding for specific government procurement," Wen said.
Prime Minister Berlusconi expects that by 2015 the value of annual bilateral trade between China and Italy will reach $100 billion. His remarks were echoed by Wen.
"However, we will still need to make a lot of effort to achieve this goal," Wen said.
Italy holds special attraction for China. Compared to other countries, Italy has advantages in the areas of environmental protection, creativity and design, small- and medium-sized businesses, tourism services, as well as its own culturally creative industries, Wen said.
Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said: "We have provided thousands of square meters in the Changning district of Shanghai to exhibit Italian products. People living in the Yangtze River Delta can obtain a glimpse of various Italian brands through this window. "
The area and the population in the delta almost equal that of Japan. The purchasing power there is also very strong, Chen said, adding that if this type of exhibition proves to be successful and beneficial to both countries, it can be duplicated elsewhere.
Paolo Zegna, president of the Italian employers' federation Confindustria, said: "China is the most popular destination for Italian investors. The market there is more and more open and promising. And our engagement in China is of strategic importance, not some short-term plan. We hope to firmly establish our presence in China."
He applauded the Shanghai Expo as "a great success for Italy" because so many Chinese people get to know about exquisite Italian brands.
The 10 agreements signed during Wen's visit to Rome on Thursday include energy and technology. In 2004, Wen visited Italy for the first time, when trade volume between the two countries was $10 billion.
Wen is due to visit Turkey after he departs from Italy.
Zhou Wa, Wang Chenyan and Reuters contributed to this story
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