On November 27, 2020, the first Sino-Italian Design and Innovation Forum was held at the Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tongji University. The Consulate General of Italy in Shanghai, the Association of Italian Academicians in China (AAIIC) and the head of the Foreign Affairs Office of Tongji University, as well as representatives from Italian innovative enterprises and Chinese and Italian academics attended the forum to discuss the design innovation practices in China and Italy.

Filippo Fabrocini, Vice-President of AAIIC and Professor at Tongji University, was chairperson of the forum; Roberto Pagani, representative of the Consulate General of Italy in Shanghai, gave an opening speech. The forum consists of lectures given by Renata Pavlov, Chairman of Italian shipbuilding giant Fincantieri (China) and former head of the Italian Ministry of Finance; Zhang Jianye and Wang Can, President and Sales Director of Leonardo China; Mirko Bordiga, President of Maserati China, a famous Italian sports car brand. Presentations were made by guests from all walks of life from art, architecture, design, catering and fashion, including Professor Sultan, Deputy Director of the Tsinghua University Art Museum and Chief Project Manager of the China Pavilion at Expo 2015 in Milan, Associate Professor Yu Xin'an, designer from the College of Design and Innovation, and Enrico Guarnieri, General Manager of a Michelin 2-star restaurant "Da Vittorio". In a roundtable discussion, Filippo Fabrocini, Aldo Cibic and Yu Xin'an discussed many issues in the field of art, design and innovation, bringing the forum to a successful conclusion.

The inaugural forum was organized by TJSIC, the College of Design and Innovation and the Shanghai Promotion Center for City of Design, and co-organized by AAIIC and Polytechnic University of Turin. The forum focused on the frontiers of design innovation in China and Italy, and the guests shared their innovative practices in their respective fields from different perspectives, promoting the interchange of different fields and providing valuable opportunities for cultural exchange between China and Italy.