China Pavilion a hit with visitors at Expo Milano 2015

A person visits the China pavilion at Expo 2015 in Milan, May 6, 2015. Italy opened the Milan Expo on May 1, torn between hopes that the showcase of global food, technology and culture will lift a gloomy national mood and fears that it will be overshadowed by scandal, delays and protests. [Photo/Agencies]

Strong political ties between the two countries are also providing a strong foundation for business and cultural ties, Barberis said.

She is very optimistic about China's Belt and Road Inititative, a reference to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives, transport infrastructure projects linking Asia and Europe, proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013－and she believes that this policy will be very successful.

The Milan Expo is providing a great opportunity to deepen bilateral exchanges and many Chinese and Italian businesses have been able to discuss cooperation in a series of themed conferences held during the global event, she said.

According to Wang, in the past few months, the China Pavilion has hosted more than 15 provincial-level trade promotion events; in September, Shandong province held the largest one with more than 300 Chinese and Italian enterprises participating during the Shandong Week industry event.

Yantai Changyu Pioneer Wine Co, a leading Chinese wine producer, also took part in the event. According to Sun Jian, deputy general manager of the company, since 2012, the company has placed greater emphasis on its overseas market to hedge declining domestic sales, and has established cooperation with many European companies in traditional wine producing countries including France, Spain and Italy.

The company attended the five-day Shandong Week at the expo, during which it negotiated plans with two Italian winemakers.

As early as 2011, Italian sparkling wine maker Donelli signed an agreement to issue and transfer its intellectual property rights in the Chinese market to Changyu, including its trademark and Chinese brand name. They plan to further their cooperation.