Chongqing- China-Italy Chamber of Commerce held the Update Webinar on COVID-19 on Thursday, February 20th. As an update of the first informative session held on February 13th, the webinar aimed at sharing the impact of COVID-19 on Italian business in China, and how foreign companies could deal with the current situation in the aspects. 

Moreover, the webinar offered a scientific overview on COVID-19 and the implications on business and travel aspects, according to the results and analysis of the CICC Survey "The impact of the COVID-19 Pneumonia on the Italian Business Community in China".

The webinar had the participation of Luca Ferrari, Ambassador of Italy in the PRC, who provided a brief update on the situation focusing on the Italian institutions, and Gianpaolo Bruno, Coordinator of ITA Offices in China and Mongolia, who shared an overview of the Italian Trade Agency's (ICE) activities and services.

The meeting has addressed the topics related to COVID-19 and introduced how foreign companies could deal with the current situation in the aspects including science, law, and business. According to the keynote speaker Valtero Canepa's presentation, China is not the one in SARS 2003, the government can address the epidemic with low inflation, and possibly, the production can be recovered quickly.  

The meeting was moderated by Giulia Gallarati, CICC Secretary-General, and featured the following topics and speakers:

the 1st speaker's topic is related to the business outlook under the epidemic's impacts demonstrated from the CICC Survey "The impact of the COVID-19: results and analysis", by Valtero Canepa, CICC Vice-Chairman Shanghai. According to Mr. Canepa's speech, there are few certainty and lots of uncertainty during this special period. He indicated that China is not the same country that dealt with in SARS in 2003, but a country with today's 17% of WW GDP and 24% of WW growth. In addition, China plays a critical central role within crucial supply chains in computers, electronics, electrical equipment, machinery, motor vehicles, etc. Though there are many uncertainties, such as Chinese consumer reaction after the crisis or consumer behavior shifts, in the government aspect, there is a huge capacity of the government to address fiscal and liquidity stimulus within a low inflation risk environment. Therefore, he suggested that industrial overcapacity in almost all sectors, possibly able to recover production losses quickly. To conclude, Mr. Canepa said it is impossible to make any reliable prediction today, just playing with scenarios.     

The 2nd speaker is on a scientific perspective to stated the symptoms of COVID-19 "A scientific outlook at COVID-19" by Dr. Francesco Lavarra, Head of Adult Interventional Cardiology & Director of Cardiology Department, Jilin Heart Hospital & Adjunct Professor, Yanbian University.

The 3rd guest's topic is very practical for companies who want to apply for the certificate in the legal aspect. "How companies can apply for the Certificate of Force Majeure," by Sergio Scanu, Counsel, Chiomenti. in Mr. Scanu's presentation, he introduced that in case the outbreak is deemed to be as Force Majeure event: 1) it gives legal ground to terminate a contract; and 2) wholly or partly exempts from responsibility the affected party. According to the PRC Contract Law, either party to contract that is not able to perform the contract due to force majeure event shall give notice to the other party in time to reduce the losses that may be caused to the other party and provide evidence within a reasonable time limit. He gave more suggestions on how overseas companies deal with legal matters during the epidemic.

Other speakers` themes related to the business management and travel restrictions "Crisis management for SMEs," by Carlo D'Andrea, Managing Partner, Studio Legale D'Andrea & Partners Shanghai Representative Office and "Update on travel restrictions," by Germano Rollero, General Manager North Asia, Etihad Airwais gave their notices for all members of CICC. The webinar was followed by a Q&A session during which participants had the opportunity to ask their questions to the presenters.