Download Increasing numbers of Chinese immigrants having been coming to Italy since the 1990s.
It’s brought with it challenges and in recent years with Italy’s bitter economic downturn populistic politicians have accused the Chinese of stealing jobs and opportunities.
Rebecca Valli in Prato finds out if this is true.
Dressed in her working white lab coat, Sara Lin offers pastries on a platter.
Her accent and gestures are quintessentially Italian, yet her surname and looks reveal her Chinese descent.
Lin recently made headlines with the launch of the flagship Italian leather brand store, Desmo, that she bought last year.
“The first Chinese on Tornabuoni” read a headline in a local newspaper, referring to Lin setting up a shop on the most prestigious fashion street in Florence.
Lin came to Italy when she was 7 years old with her parents. Her first job was in the family textile lab and she continued in the industry.
“I was made style director of an Italian brand and they would send me abroad to do research. I gained lots of experience and in 2008 the company I was working for offered for me to become a partner, and manage their Chinese side of the business, I had to move to Guangzhou. It was a very interesting proposition. My love for Florence and my kids who totally consider themselves Italians kept me here. I decided to stay and create a brand for my children.”
She named her company after her children, Jackie & Celine, and two years later she acquired Desmo.
Lin’s vision is to export the best of local Italian craftsmanship to emerging markets, hungry for quality.
“I made changes in distribution, rebranding, we started to sell in high end boutiques. We had to leave some customers and choose new ones. And above all bring the local manual skills and crafts abroad. China is definitely one of our top goals.”
The city of Prato, just ten kilometers away from Desmo’s headquarters, is home to different kinds of enterprises.
The area has been transformed from an industrial zone once known for its high quality craftmanship to the capital of pronto moda - or ready made, massed produced fashion textiles.
Documented Chinese immigrants make up for 12 percent of the total population here. Add the illegal, and it’s 25 per cent.
Travelling through the grid of streets reveals a monotonous line of warehouses - the core of Chinese textile businesses.
Mr. Yan is the boss of one of these warehouses. He agrees to a short interview in his air conditioned office.
“I came in 1997, 13 years ago with a group of relatives. I was 16 years old then. I helped my family business. They worked in a textile factory. I have managed this warehouse since 2008.”
Yan says he gets by financially, but he’s quick to add that Prato’s residents have a misconception about how much money Chinese businesses like his make.
“That’s not like we earn as much money as the Italians say, those companies that make huge money are a mess, my place is not a mess like that. The police also know that. But some people still think that we make a million dollars a year. But it is just not possible for one person to make that kind of money. It is just not that easy to make money! One piece of clothing you earn a few cents, 2-3 cents. How on earth can I earn the money they say we Chinese earn?”
Yan complains about increasing government controls on his business. He says that the police seem to only target Chinese companies.
There have been an increasing number of raids. Chinese businesses have been charged with illegal money transfers, tax fraud and embezzlement.
Police also alleged that the businesses hire illegal workers, and sell counterfeit goods.
It’s cases like these that are fueling anti-Chinese sentiments.
Prato’s residents, traditionally Left Wing voters, recently voted in a Right Wing candidate who made anti-Chinese statements.
Riccardo Marini is the president of the Prato chapter of the Confindustria employer’s federation. Of the nearly 700 members only one is Chinese.
“They don’t meet the requirements to join in. We do not ask the Chinese anything more than we ask Italians. Two things are indispensable, and paramount. They have to respect the law, the Italian law not the Chinese one, and they have to follow the rules of conduct of Confindustria: an ethical code on how to do business.”
But Social Scientist, Daniele Cologna says the Chinese are doing jobs the Italians don’t want.
“They operate in sectors where you have diminishing profit margins, and that is the reason why Chinese are there because Italians have left. The Chinese only set up businesses that the Italians don’t find profitable anymore.”
Textile manufacturing, he says, is becoming difficult for the Chinese as well.
“The ones that will stay in textiles are the ones that are on the winning side. The ones that have understood how they can make some good money out of what they are doing. And in order to do that they know that they have to grow out of the very basic sweatshop model, they have to start working with Italians, they have to start to share profits with Italians.”
Sara Lin, CEO of Desmo, is one of those working with Italians.
A year ago she hired Gianpiero Raveggi, a 77 years old artisan, with more than 60 years of experience in the leather industry.
“’Made in Italy’ is not about quantity, it’s about quality. It’s about making a leather bag with high quality workmanship and precious materials. People want to buy that bag, and they know they are buying ‘Made in Italy’.”
Vocabulary
1) entrepreneur: pengusaha/wiraswastawan
2) quintessentially: dasarnya
3) platter: nampan
4) reveal: menunjukkan, memberitahukan
5) flagship: unggulan
6) emerging: muncul
7) craftmanship: keahlian
8) headquarters: markas
9) warehouse: gudang
10) sweatshop: tempat buruh bekerja dengan upah rendah
Questions:
1) Who is Sarah Lin, what is her brand and how did she get in the fashion industry?
2) Where is the heart of pronto moda and what does it mean?
3) How many percent of Italy's population is Chinese and why is there and anti-Chinese sentiment in that country?
4) According Yan, why is it harder for him to do business there?
5) What did Sarah Lin say about made in Italy leather bags?
