(23 February 2017) On the occasion of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella’s state visit to China, the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies of Pisa was invited in the official delegation, with Dean Pierdomenico Perata, and the Director of the Galileo Galilei Italian Institute in Chongqing and Co-Director of the Confucius Institute of Pisa Alberto Minin who is also Economics and Company Management Professor at Sant'Anna. The Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies of Pisa has long held a prominent role in fostering scientific cooperation between the two countries and, in this context, it has entered an agreement with Chongqing University and the Government of the District of Bishan (Chongqing) to start the implementation of the pilot phase of the "Sino-Italian Research and Innovation Area". Chongqing University is one of China's most prestigious universities with which Sant'Anna initiated a scientific collaboration back in 2006. The "Sino-Italian Research and Innovation Area" project will serve to set up a centre in Chongqing to develop training programmes such as masters, doctoral degrees and joint research activities. The area will also include a space dedicated to the cultivation of business start-up services generated by the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and other Italian universities. The agreement was made official in Beijing at the Great Hall of the People, the seat of China's parliament, in the presence of the President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping and the Italian President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella. Pierdomenico Perata and Alberto Di Minin of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies of Pisa were the Italian signatories and the Chinese signatories were President of Chongqing University and the Vice Mayor of Chongqing Zhou Xuhong and Mu Huaping respectively. (Red)

SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION

"The agreement signed during the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella’s state visit consolidates the presence of Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, one of the first Italian universities to formalise partnerships with Chinese universities” comments Pierdomenico Perata. “The realisation of the scientific and technological park will take place with the direct involvement of the Galileo Galilei Institute based in Chongqing. It represents a new opportunity to create more fruitful exchanges and scientific cooperation between the two countries. This new collaboration will benefit our students and researchers and Italian start-up companies, which will find new opportunities for development and investment in a global perspective".  And according to Alberto Minin "the resources made available by our Chinese partners and that have been allocated for the feasibility study of the project, will serve to enhance Sant’Anna’s ten-year presence in Chongqing and to attract new Italian academic partners and research centres and institutions that interested in a safe haven to develop new steps in the scientific cooperation with China. "