On March 23, China Watcher Fifth Maria Weber Conference was successfully held in Milan, Italy. The conference was organized within the framework of “Focus China”, a new project jointly established by Istituto Per Gil Studi Di Politica Internazionale(ISPI), a prestigious Italian think tank, and Fondazione Italia Cina (Italy-China Foundation). Set against the big picture of Xi’s presidency for the past two years, the Conference gathered together scholars from Italy, China, Denmark and France to discuss and exchange views on changes in China’s economic and foreign policies, internal and external challenges confronting current China, means to pursue the China Dream, ways to strengthen economic cooperation and communication between Italy and China, and alike.

Professor Wang Yiwei, senior fellow of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China (RDCY) was invited to the conference. He submitted a paper as part of ISPI’s annual report on China on "Xi`s Domestic and Foreign Policy Gamble: Towards A New Normality", and delivered a keynote speech titled “Differences and Similarities of ‘One Belt One Road’ and the ‘Marshall Plan’”. Professor Wang proposed that the similarities between the “One Belt One Road” Initiative, dubbed as “China’s Marshall Plan”, and the Marshall Plan executed by America to assist post-war west European countries with economic revival do exist and to a certain degree provide a useful reference; however, due to differences in respective international environment and national conditions, the two vary vastly from each other in terms of background, content, procedure and intent. Professor Wang Yiwei stressed the significance of “One Belt One Road” Initiative to the world at large and to Europe in particular, and offered valuable suggestions on cooperation and exchange between Italy and China in infrastructure construction and investment. Professor Wang’s enlightening speech was well received by other experts and audience present, and aroused a hearty discussion.

The Italy-China Foundation and “Focus China” aim to help Italian enterprise build image, establish fame and look for partners in China. To date, they have hosted a number of activities including language training, cultural exchanges, economic and research cooperation. Symposiums theming on “Trading with China” have been held for several times, assisting Italian companies to dig up business opportunities in Chinese provinces.（欢迎关注人大重阳新浪微博：@人大重阳，微信公众号：rdcy2013）