GreenergyDaily

Sep. 29, 2025

Italy has closed a probe into whether Pirelli & C SpA’s largest shareholder, Sinochem Holdings Corp., violated restrictions on its role at the tiremaker aimed at limiting Chinese influence over strategic assets.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office dismissed the administrative case earlier this month, Pirelli said Monday, after finding no evidence that Sinochem or its appointees had compromised management independence. The probe involved China National Tire and Rubber Corp., a unit of Sinochem.

The decision lowers the chances that Italy would apply sanctions on Sinochem under the country’s “golden power” law. The investigation was launched last year over concerns that Pirelli directors representing Sinochem, which owns 37% stake in Pirelli, also had a role in the Chinese conglomerate’s operation.

A 2023 golden-power decree had limited Sinochem’s involvement in Pirelli and imposed safeguards around the Italian firm’s Cyber Tyre connected-tire system, a technology that is viewed as critical to its future growth.

The issue has also raised concerns in the US. In July, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security warned Italy that protections in place may be insufficient to shield Pirelli from American restrictions on connected-vehicle technology, Bloomberg News reported this month, citing people familiar with the matter.