China Italy Philanthropy Forum Launches Joint Initiative

The signing ceremony for the second term of the China-Italy Philanthropy Forum (CIPF; 2022-2025) took place on November 18, 2022, in Beijing, China, during the "2022 Beijing Forum". Three parties – the China Development Research Foundation, the TOChina Hub at the University of Turin, and the National School of Development of Peking University – signed the Memorandum of Understanding.

During the ceremony, a twin fundraising initiative was announced, aiming to support the "China REACH" (Rural Education And Child Health) project in Hebei, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces of China, and the efforts of Rome's Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù in conducting capacity-building in partnership with Chinese medical institutions and continuing the treatment of children requiring humanitarian oncological assistance from countries around the world, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Ukraine, Yemen.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the first term of the China-Italy Philanthropy Forum (2019-2021) had been signed in Rome, Italy in 2019 during a state visit to Italy by President Xi Jinping. At the time, the CIPF Memorandum represented the only philanthropic cooperation agreement signed in the presence of the two leaders of China and Italy, as well as one of the highest-level philanthropic exchanges ever held between the two countries.

During the Forum's first term (2019-2021), the Chinese and Italian partners collaborated to carry out various innovative philanthropic projects, invigorating civil relations between the two countries and elevating the voice of Sino-Italian friendship. From March to May 2020, when COVID-19 became a global pandemic and Italy was the first impacted in Europe, the China Development Research Foundation (CDRF) and the TOChina Hub supported a humanitarian air-bridge coordinated by the Italian Embassy in Beijing.

In the field of human development, Chinese and Italian philanthropists made a joint donation and launched the "Art for the Future" project in Ledu District, Haidong City, Qinghai Province. The goal of the project is to investigate workable solutions to urgent social and educational problems such as the lack of aesthetic and emotional education for rural children and the lack of gender equality awareness. The success of this pilot project means that the initiative will now be carried out in further regions throughout China.

At the signing ceremony for the second term of cooperation, the TOChina Hub, the China Development Research Foundation, and the National School of Development of Peking University pledged to deepen cooperation in the fields of philanthropy-related education and research.