ChinaEU president receives Guangdong Friendship Award

Note：

Luigi Gambardella, an Italian-Belgian technology expert and president of ChinaEU, received the Guangdong Friendship Award at a ceremony in Guangzhou this week. He is also a Shenzhen Global Communication Ambassador and a content creator of Shenzhen Daily. Over the past year and more, Luigi Gambardella has continued to publish signed articles in Shenzhen Daily's UGC Creators co-creation column, contributing more than 10 pieces that introduce Shenzhen's urban and innovation model, artificial intelligence and embodied AI, and China-Europe relations and investment cooperation.

Luigi Gambardella, an Italian-Belgian technology expert and president of ChinaEU, received on Tuesday the Guangdong Friendship Award, one of the province’s highest recognition for international experts who have made outstanding contributions to the province’s economic and social development and international exchanges.

Luigi Gambardella, president of ChinaEU, receives the Guangdong Friendship Award during the ceremony held in Guangzhou on Tuesday. The award recognizes his contribution to China-Europe technological and innovation cooperation.

The award, presented by the Guangdong Provincial Government at the 2nd Guangdong Friendship Award ceremony in Guangzhou, recognized Gambardella’s contribution to strengthening exchanges and cooperation between Guangdong and Europe in digital technology, artificial intelligence and industrial innovation.

Gambardella has worked to promote dialogue and cooperation between European and Chinese technology communities for more than a decade, bringing together companies, institutions and innovators around digital transformation and emerging technologies. Through ChinaEU, he has promoted exchanges in areas ranging from digital networks, smart manufacturing to artificial intelligence, robotics and the next generation of industrial technologies.

Gambardella has worked to promote dialogue and cooperation between European and Chinese technology communities for more than a decade. 

Over the years, Gambardella has become a long-standing friend of Shenzhen, following the city’s transformation from a major manufacturing centre into a world-leading innovation hub in telecommunications, artificial intelligence and robotics.

“Guangdong represents one of the most dynamic examples of how innovation, entrepreneurship and industrial capabilities can come together,” Gambardella said. “From Shenzhen’s transformation to the rapid development of artificial intelligence and robotics, this region shows the importance of combining technological vision with the ability to scale applications.”

In recent years, Gambardella has focused increasingly on emerging fields such as Physical AI, humanoid robotics, intelligent manufacturing and AI-driven industrial applications, areas that are developing rapidly in Shenzhen and across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Gambardella poses for a photo with an HONOR 600 robot. 

“We are entering a new phase of technological development,” he said. “The future will not be defined only by who creates the most advanced technologies, but also by who can build ecosystems capable of transforming innovation into real-world applications.”

Guangdong, and Shenzhen in particular, have become global reference points for innovation through the interaction of research capabilities, entrepreneurial culture and manufacturing excellence.

These connections, he added, will become increasingly important as artificial intelligence moves beyond software and becomes more deeply integrated into manufacturing, mobility and other parts of the physical economy.

For Gambardella, the award represents both recognition and responsibility.

“Technology has always advanced through connections between people, ideas and cultures,” he said. “In the AI era, building bridges between innovation ecosystems will be essential to creating shared opportunities and address global challenges.”