Italian companies across a wide range of industries have been recognized for their outstanding business connections in China as part of the 15th edition of the Italy-China Awards.

Neos Airlines won the "Capital Elite" category.

CEO Carlo Stradiotti says it played a key role at the beginning of the pandemic. 

"Dozens and dozens of Italians were waiting for someone to take them back home and so this is what we did. A sort of rescue flight package which we agreed with our foreign ministers," she said.

It was founded in 2002 and started flying to China in 2016. After a pause in passenger flights due to lockdown, the airline now operates the country's only flight between the two countries – from Milan to Nanjing.

"We are having tests in the airport, which are on top of tests that are already performed by the passengers, on top of quarantine requirements in China. The result is outstanding because we have not had a single infected passenger for a long time."

The awards were broadcast live this morning across Italy and organized by the Italy-China Foundation, the president of which, Mario Boselli, said the ceremony "recognizes the depth of ties between the two countries and presents them as examples to follow in the future."

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Another company receiving top honors this year is ASK Industries, which designs and manufactures car audio and antenna systems.

It was founded in Emilia Romagna in 1965 and started conducting business in China 17 years ago.

CEO Alberto Bianchi says the award is recognition of his 1,600 workers based at his company's Chinese headquarters in Ningbo. "You cannot do automotive business and be relevant without being in China. Since the beginning, we have tried to deal with the local government to understand what we can bring to the territory and we are sure that we will also get something back," he said.

China's ambassador to Italy, Li Junhua, said despite the challenges of COVID-19, the two countries are committed to working together.

It's a sentiment shared by Italy.

Italy's ambassador to China, Luca Ferrari, said: "In 2020, Italy managed to export 13 billion euros [$15.7 billion] worth of products to China, an amount identical to 2019 despite lockdown. These are important figures that give a sense of the intensity of the relationship between Italy and China and the value of the Chinese market for our companies, big, medium and small."

These are positive signs as Italy tries to progress its recovery with a new national government.