For at least twenty years China has been changing the world, through its reforms, its productions and its businesses, which innovate and invest in Italy as well. Pirelli in the hands of ChinaChem, Ansaldo Energia participated by Shanghai Electric, Shanghai Bright Food which buys the Tuscan oil group Salov, while Krizia has moved to Shenzhen and Inter and Milan have also been bought by the Chinese.
“Is all this a good thing?” asks Andrea Goldstein, Managing Director of Nomisma and a profound connoisseur of emerging economies and their large companies, in “Red Capitalism. Chinese investments in Italy” (Egea 2016; 204 pages; 17 euros; 8,99 epub).
According to many, it is above all a risk, because the oriental company heads would be interested in our know-how and our brands, and would then be ready to transfer production to China. According to others, however, it is an opportunity, because the Italian investments of the red multinationals would open growth prospects on the Chinese market, and beyond.
There is a need for clarity, says the author in the book, addressing the issue that lends itself to much controversy and too many prejudices, in a serious and pragmatic way.
From who are the public and private Chinese multinationals, to international investments in Europe (Greece, Portugal, Iceland). From the Chinese presence in the economy to the French case and the many reasons for an increasingly intense relationship. All told through concrete examples of significant industries and figures, up to dealing with the most current of cases: football.
One chapter, the final one, is aimed at the future, on the future of Chinese investments still in Europe and in Italy. On how to attract more of them, with some "legitimate" concerns, concludes the author.
Andrea Goldstein, managing director of Nomisma, has more than twenty years of experience on global governance issues, gained at the OECD and at the UN Economic Commission for Asia and at the World Bank.
A profound connoisseur of emerging economies and their large companies, he is Adjunct professor at the Catholic University of Milan, Past-President of the Bocconi Alumni Association in Paris and participates in the activities of Aspen Italia.
