China and Italy are working on a plan to expand their bilateral economic cooperation as the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Italy diplomatic ties is just round the corner, said Chinese Ambassador to Italy Ding Wei Saturday.

The Chinese government is happy to see an enhanced and deepened economic ties between the two countries, said Ding while meeting with Adriano Luci, chairman of the industry association in Italy's northeastern city of Udine.

He said Udine enjoyed a well-developed industrial capacity and saw ever-closer ties among Chinese and Italian firms.

Ding hoped the association could encourage its member companies to champion the cooperation between Chinese enterprises and their Italian counterparts so as to materialize common development.

Luci briefed Ding on Udine's industrial development, its companies' investment in China as well as their participation in the on-going Shanghai World Expo.

He said he is willing to see the Italian and Chinese companies having more exchanges and further expanded areas of cooperation.

According to Invitalia, the Italian official agency for promoting overseas investment and enterprise development, investment from Chinese companies in Italy has surged since 2000 and mainly goes to three main sectors, namely the automotive industry, logistics and machinery.

Bilateral trade volume between China and Italy in the first half of 2010 registered a 36.3 percent rise compared to that of the same period last year, reaching some US$20 million.

(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2010)