Hi my friend. I'm italian. "C'è" it means "There is". "Ciò" is like i'm saying "this/that".
-C'è una luce nella stanza (There is a light in the room)
-Ho visto ciò che mi piace (I saw the thing that i like).
Never use ciò for refereing at the subject.
I hope I've helped you a bit. Let me know. Bye