A design innovation hub jointly established by two leading universities in China and Italy respectively was launched on Monday to build up the image of “Design-in-China.”

The China-Italy Design Innovation Hub in Milan was co-established in Milan by Tsinghua University in Beijing and Politecnico di Milano (Polytechnic University of Milan) in Italy. As the first Europe-based scientific center of Tsinghua, the hub aims to serve as a joint platform for talent cultivation and innovation cooperation between the two countries, Tsinghua University President Qiu Yong said at the launching ceremony in Beijing.

The launch came at the historically opportune time when China’s and Italy’s development initiatives meet half way and when China is working to transform its “Made in China” image into “Designed in China,” said Lu Xiaobo, dean of the Tsinghua’s Academy of Arts & Design.

China has laid out a specific plan to further consolidate the role of cultural and creative industry in the nation’s industrial development by 2020. The country also aims to cultivate competitive cultural enterprises, products with independent intellectual property, and brands with international influence, according to a State Council blueprint issued in 2014.

“Italy enjoys the world’s most resourceful talent pool in creative design, while demand for creative design in China is rising as the country undergoes rapid economic growth and industrial structural reform. The hub will connect and integrate innovation resources in both countries and make a great contribution to high-end design cultivation and leading design company incubation. It will drive commercial and industrial cooperation between China and Italy as well as academic and people-to-people exchange,” said Cao Guoying, a director with China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, adding that the hub will also help with the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The project was inked in February during Italian president Sergio Mattarella’s state visit to China.

It is very important to promote China’s knowledge and intellectual property across the world as China’s sense of leadership grows and the nation’s education sheds more promising prospective, Ferruccio Resta, president of Politecnico di Milano, said in his speech at the ceremony, expressing Italy’s welcome to the launch of the hub in Milan and vowing to build it into one of the best in the world.

The China-Italy hub also boasts four to five mirror bases in China. Two mirror bases were unveiled at the ceremony: one in Tongzhou District, Beijing; and one in Tianfu New Area, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province. Both will serve as creative incubators for cutting-edge designs.