On April 25, the fifth annual conference of the China-Italy Delicacy Silk Road Education Alliance was held at our college. The event brought together nearly a hundred representatives from the educational and culinary sectors of both China and Italy, including officials from the Zhejiang Provincial Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, the Austria Hangzhou Overseas Chinese Association, the Italy-China Link Association, and the Italian Hande Cultural Association.

President Du Lanxiao and Vice President Lang Fuping attended the conference. In her welcome speech, President Du reviewed the alliance's five-year development and outlined three key missions for the future: collaborating with seven new member institutions to jointly plan development strategies; promoting integration and co-creation between Chinese and Western culinary cultures; and implementing a "two-way exchange" program that will send teachers to new teaching sites in Italy for training in the second half of the year, injecting new momentum into the alliance.

Wang Shaolei, Director of the Zhejiang Provincial Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, fully affirmed the alliance's innovative model that uses food as a medium, vocational education as a bridge, and overseas Chinese as a link to deepen Sino-Italian cultural exchanges and industrial collaboration.

Ms. Molly, President of the Italy-China Link Association–the Alliance's guiding unit–delivered a video congratulatory speech. She stated that both China and Italy possess long-standing culinary traditions and world-renowned culinary expertise. She described the Alliance as a bridge for cultural exchange between the two nations and expressed her hope that it would continue to deepen the integration of Chinese and Italian food cultures, writing a new chapter in the bilateral friendship.

Ms. Candida, Head of International Relations at ALMA - The International School of Italian Culinary Arts, an Alliance council member, also sent a video message. She affirmed that the Alliance embodies the deep collaboration between our institutions and represents a model for jointly cultivating talents in hotel management and culinary education.

The conference featured ceremonies for new member accreditation, unveiling of new teaching sites, graduation of the fifth Italian Cooking Eagles Class, and thematic exchanges on "Culinary Heritage and Innovation." As China's first platform focused on Sino-Italian culinary education cooperation, the alliance has expanded from 5 founding members to 24 institutions, with steadily growing influence. Its jointly established Sino-Italian Culinary College has been recognized as one of Zhejiang's first Belt and Road "Silk Road Institutes."