In the Italian crisis-hit labor market, a growing number of newly graduate professionals can find a job thanks to their knowledge of China, recruitment experts said on Wednesday at the annual Italy China Career Day.

The event, organized by the Milan-based Italy China Foundation and sponsored by the Chinese Consulate in Milan, offers a job-meeting platform to companies and newly graduated professionals.

Some 400 young Italians and second-generation Chinese met with representatives of renowned firms including Salvatore Ferragamo, Technogym, Moncler Group and ICBC.

In the current times of economic crisis and record-high unemployment levels, an expertise in line with the needs of companies has become much-sought in all sectors, Italy China Foundation President Cesare Romiti said during the event.

"The Italian graduate-professionals with a China expertise as well as the Chinese nationals who were born or raised in Italy have studied in the best universities of our country. They are now a highest-level resource thanks to a dual training that made them experts in the languages, cultures and bargaining models of both Italy and China," he noted.

For this reason, Romiti highlighted that China was a "driving force both for the businesses and for the labor market in Italy."

In fact, a growing number of international companies based in Italy are seeking employees with China expertise in a globalized world where China has an increasingly important role, recruitment experts said.

Once the European country with the smallest number of Chinese students, Italy has experienced a rapid change in recent years, according to the Uni-Italia Association, which encourages academic cooperation between Italy and other countries.

From 2008 onwards, the Uni-Italia Association said some 20,000 Chinese nationals were pre-enrolled in Italian universities, of which more than 2,500 have graduated. The number of Chinese students in Italy has constantly increased thanks to bilateral programs, the association noted.

The number of Italy-based companies participated by investors from the Chinese mainland also rose from seven in 2000 to 133 in 2012, employing 5,534 workers and reaching a turnover of 2.6 billion euros (3.5 billion U.S. dollars), according to figures compiled by the Italy China Foundation.

Last year, Italian exports to China posted an 8.1-growth compared to 2012, while the Italian imports from China also increased slightly after a sharp fall in 2012, the foundation said based on data of the China General Administration of Customs.

Bilateral trade exchange registered a 3.3-percent increase in 2013 to 43.3 billion U.S. dollars, though the figure was still far from the 51.3-billion U.S. dollar turnover achieved in 2011. Endi

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