The press conference “Messina-China. Culture, dialogue and relations” took place in the Hall of Flags of Palazzo Zanca, dedicated to the collaboration path developed in the last two years between Messina and interlocutors from the Chinese cultural, academic and productive world. The meeting was attended by the mayor Federico Basile, the councilor for Productive and Promotional Activities Massimo Finocchiaro, the president of the “Arcangelo Corelli” State Conservatory of Music and of the National Conference of Presidents of Music Conservatories, Egidio Bernava Morante, and Antonio Tanqui Wang, founder and honorary president of the Vinci Cultura Association. The initiative was an opportunity to retrace the main stages of the dialogue started between Messina and China, from academic-musical collaboration to institutional missions and the signing of agreements, up to the new development prospects in the economic, productive and tourism sectors.
In his speech, the mayor Federico Basile thanked the president of the Corelli Conservatory, Egidio Bernava Morante, underlining the role of the Institute in starting a path that has progressively involved the municipal administration. “I thank the journalists, the president of the Chamber of Commerce and the representatives of the local production categories present today. This conference is an opportunity to summarize the path undertaken and, above all, to look at the opportunities that can open up for our territory. I would like to thank Egidio Bernava because, thanks to the Arcangelo Corelli Conservatory which he presides over, it has been possible to build the foundations of this cooperation and start a dialogue which has also allowed the Municipality of Messina to enter and develop new relationships”, declared Basile.
The mayor then recalled the stages of the journey, starting from the institutional mission to China in May 2025, which marked a first step in the consolidation of relationships, through dialogue with Chinese cultural and academic realities and the opening to new forms of collaboration between institutions. The discussion continued with the interlocutors of the cities of Shenzhen, Shijiazhuang and Hefei and the province of Hebei, until the institutional mission of September 2026, which saw councilor Finocchiaro engaged in a series of meetings aimed at exploring the possibilities of economic and commercial cooperation.
“The recent mission to China has produced important results and we hope that this work can continue in the vision of the city we are building. To grow we need entrepreneurs, new energy and the ability to connect skills and opportunities. The idea is to promote development through a sense of community, ensuring that institutional relations become concrete opportunities for the territory. The objective is to give continuity to the relationships established, enhancing the potential of Messina and encouraging new opportunities for international exchange and collaboration. It is a work that looks to the future of the city and the ability to build useful connections for institutions, the world of training and the local economic system”, concluded Basile.
The councilor for Productive and Promotional Activities Massimo Finocchiaro reviewed the results of the institutional mission to China last September, underlining the prospects for economic and commercial cooperation that emerged from the meetings and the desire to directly involve the Messina entrepreneurial fabric. “They were four special days, during which we moved from one city to another to give continuity to this path. Thanks to Antonio Tanqui Wang and the collaboration with Egidio Bernava we managed to explore possible forms of cooperation, in particular in the sectors of territorial excellence and agri-food, with the aim of encouraging new commercial relationships and possible investments. The mission allowed us to sign important agreements: in Shijiazhuang a letter of intent to start a path towards city relations friends, in Hefei a memorandum of cooperation in various fields, including technology, innovation, training and tourism, and in the Nanqiao-Chuzhou area an agreement aimed at developing relationships between businesses and trade. We also explored the prospects related to advanced manufacturing, electric mobility, robotics, artificial intelligence and energy, trying to identify possible connections with the skills and production realities of our territory. I was positively struck by the openness and mentality of the population we have encountered, I was initially a little skeptical, but I found a reality that was also very close to Western culture.
Now we need to move from relationships to concrete opportunities. From today we will start an initial discussion with local companies, because we have found interest and desire to invest. The objective is to encourage dialogue between operators, identify companies interested in developing relationships with China and transform the agreements signed into growth opportunities for Messina. I thank all the representatives of the economic sector present. The agreements signed represent a starting point, not a goal: the result will depend on the ability to give continuity to the discussion and translate it into concrete projects”, stated councilor Finocchiaro.
At the center of the cooperation path between Messina and China is the relationship between the municipal administration and the “Arcangelo Corelli” State Conservatory of Music, whose work in the academic and musical field represented the first step in building relationships with Chinese institutions and cultural realities. A collaboration also developed thanks to the contribution of the Vinci Cultura Association and Antonio Tanqui Wang, who favored institutional missions, agreements, exchanges between teachers and joint masterclasses. “Our Institute was the first academic nucleus of this relationship between Messina and China and the results of these years confirm it”, declared the president of the Conservatory, Egidio Bernava, underlining the value of the collaboration with the Municipality and with Vinci Cultura. Among the most significant results is the growing interest of Chinese students in Corelli’s educational offering, evidenced by the increase in admission requests, in addition to the opportunities for discussion and growth arising from sharing study paths.
“This path concerns above all the new generations, our students who today share the same classrooms. For them it means having greater training opportunities and building professional prospects between Italy and China. Our task, as a public institution, is precisely this: not only to train musicians, but to offer them a new horizon, possibly international. I am sure that this moment represents the start of an important path. Music has done its part, creating a bridge between Messina and China and opening up new opportunities for exchange and training. Now it is up to each of us to do our part to encourage entrepreneurial development and transforming the relationships built into concrete opportunities for growth for our territory, concluded Bernava. Antonio Tanqui Wang, founder and honorary president of Vinci Cultura, closed the speeches, thanking the city for the welcome he received and recalling the personal and cultural bond developed through his studies in Italy.
“I thank Messina for the welcome and for the possibility of contributing to building this path of friendship and collaboration. I am Chinese, but after the years spent in Italy I feel I also have something Italian within me. And, even before feeling Italian, I want to say that I feel Sicilian”, said Wang. The founder of Vinci Cultura therefore highlighted the importance of continuing the work started, making available the network of relationships built in China to encourage new opportunities for discussion between institutions, the academic world and businesses. Music represented the first channel of dialogue between Messina and China, but the prospects for cooperation today look to a broader scope. The development guidelines include the strengthening of higher education, with the possibility of extending exchanges to other sectors, such as design, the restoration of cultural heritage and gastronomic sciences; the building of new relationships between small and medium-sized businesses in Messina and Chinese production partners; the promotion of cultural tourism through the historical heritage, traditions and food and wine excellences of the area. The shared objective is to consolidate the relationships initiated and progressively transform them into concrete projects, capable of generating new opportunities for training, the internationalization of businesses and the valorisation of the Messina area.