CHINESE INVESTMENTS IN ITALY: IS THE WAVE ARRIVING?

The paper focuses on the effects of the Go Global policy in Italy: main type of Chinese investments, their strategic motivations, as well as the role of ethnic network are analyzed. The phenomenon is still not significant in quantitative terms, but trends are impressive. Italy can provide an access to western markets and strategic logistic services, as well as to a wide array of distinctive skills/intangible assets in manufacturing industries. At the moment, there is a prevalence of greenfield initiatives, but acquisitions are rising sharply. In geographical terms, the locations chosen by Chinese investors favor areas that offer a wealth of distinctive skills (typically, but not only, district areas), but are not limited to industries in which Chinese ethnic groups are involved