From 18 October to 3 November 2023, the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China (ICCC) conducted its 5th survey to monitor the performance of Italian companies operating in the Chinese market, their 'state of health', and their climate of confidence in the short and medium term.

This is a particularly important document, as it provides a snapshot of the health of our companies and their climate of confidence at the end of 2023, a year that began with great optimism.

More than 65% of the membership base of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China in October 2023 took part in the survey, demonstrating the great attention that the Italian business community is paying to monitoring business trends in China.

The Survey and the Rapporto show that Italian companies are less optimistic than in the previous survey published in March 2023. While most of companies see themselves stable in the long term in China, there is a visible frustration and uncertainty at the current moment mostly as consequence of the weak economic performance of Chinese economy especially in Q2 and Q3 2023.

The results of the survey were announced during a business Roundtable on November 28 at Istituto Marangoni in Shanghai.

HFG's Senior Partner, Fabio Giacopello, took part to the event as panelist. He shared with the audience data relating the recent trends in Intellectual property acquisition and enforcement in China. While data on IP acquisition are stable for foreign companies comparing to previous years, there is a clear decrease for trademark filings coming from Chinese applicants. On the contrary, infringements and enforcements seems on the rise in recent times.