A video conference on proposed cooperation between Jilin province and Italy's Emilia-Romagna region in the automobile sector is held on May 13. [Photo by Zou Naishuo/jl.gov.cn]

A video conference on proposed cooperation in the automobile sector between Northeast China's Jilin province and Italy's Emilia-Romagna region was held on May 13, with the participation of representatives from eight places including China, Italy and the United States.

The Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy is home to Motor Valley, where some of the world's most renowned sports cars are built.

The conference discussed promoting projects and jointly boosting development of modern new-type automobiles.

A joint project, the Silk EV innovation center, was also announced to be established simultaneously in China and Italy.

Silk EV is an automotive engineering and design company with operations in the US, Italy and China, according to its website. It is investing 10 billion yuan ($1.41 billion) in China over the next five years to produce the first-ever sports car under FAW Group's Hongqi brand, according to previous reports.

Jing Junhai, governor of Jilin, said at the meeting that his province had always placed a high value on a partnership with Italy and the new Silk EV innovation center would help Jilin's capital Changchun to develop into a world-class industrial base for modern automobiles.

He also hoped that the two sides would focus on cooperation in areas such as modern agriculture, equipment manufacturing, and infrastructure, to accelerate Jilin's opening up.

Italian officials thanked China's especially Jilin province's help for the country in fighting against COVID-19 epidemic and said that the country would support promotion of the Hongqi sports car project, as well as projects in the automobile sector and other areas.