The setback has revived political attention on the 2014 decision that allowed a Chinese state-owned giant to enter the command room of Italy’s energy networks. And it has given new relevance to concerns that Formiche has documented since the very beginning, warning that the deal was far from a simple financial transaction.
What to know: Italy’s 2014 sale of 35% of Cdp Reti to China’s State Grid — once framed as a harmless financial transaction — is now viewed in Rome and among allies as the original breach point that opened Italy’s energy core to a foreign sovereign actor. A decade later, the Meloni government is considering using the full scope of Golden Power to address a vulnerability that Formiche had flagged long before de‑risking entered the European vocabulary.
The big picture: In 2014, China acquired 35% of Cdp Reti for €2.1 billion. Cdp Reti controls strategic stakes in Terna (electricity grid, 29%), Snam (gas infrastructure, 31%) and later Italgas (26%).
- State Grid is the largest state‑owned utility in the world — a direct arm of the Chinese state.
- Italy had not yet implemented an effective national security filter on foreign investment.
- By 2025, China’s stake is worth approximately €5 billion and has generated over €140 million in dividends.
Driving the news: Snam’s failed bid for Germany’s OGE network revived concerns about governance and foreign influence in strategic infrastructure.
- Berlin was reportedly wary of approving an acquisition by a company indirectly linked to State Grid.
- In Palazzo Chigi, momentum is building to rebalance China’s presence through the Golden Power initiative.
- The reassessment aligns with Italy’s more assertive Atlantic posture and growing scepticism toward Chinese influence in critical systems.
State of play: State Grid’s footprint inside Italy’s energy backbone means:
- privileged access to decision‑making in strategic networks;
- board representation for a foreign sovereign actor inside Snam, Terna, Italgas;
- increased exposure to the geopolitical rivalry between the U.S. and China;
- long‑term visibility into data, standards, and the technological evolution of Italian grids;
- a profitable, resilient position from which China reaps heavy returns.
The problem: An underestimated entry point. Italy allowed a foreign state to penetrate the command centres of its energy system before Golden Power protections were fully activated. Regulatory tools came after the door was already open.
A non‑neutral actor: State Grid is not an ordinary investor — it is a state-owned entity. Its presence brings:
- top-tier smart‑grid know‑how;
- the ability to integrate physical and digital networks (smart cities, 5G, EV infrastructure);
- geopolitical influence over key sectors is now central to NATO’s infrastructure security and the EU’s resilience policies.
Why is it catching up now? Energy networks are now part of the wider tech‑geo‑economic competition (smart grids, AI, EVs, connected mobility). Rome seeks to reassure Washington that Italy’s strategic infrastructure is secure.
- China’s role now appears disproportionate relative to the broader shift in Europe’s stance toward Beijing.
Flashback: Formiche raised the issue from the start. Long before mainstream institutions grasped the implications, our sister website Formiche documented the political, technological, and strategic risks of allowing a Chinese SOE into Italy’s energy arteries.
- China wasn’t simply investing — it was positioning
- As early as January 2014, Formiche noted that State Grid’s move aligned with Beijing’s global strategy to gain influence over foreign energy networks.
- Italy was flying blind
- In August 2014, Formiche reported that Italy lacked basic safeguards. Golden Power rules were incomplete; strategic due diligence was almost absent.
- CDP former chairman Franco Bassanini took to Twitter to defend the deal..
- The exchange was captured in: “Bassanini doesn’t ‘play dumb’ on the Chinese in Snam and Terna”
- Economists and analysts sounded the alarm
- Formiche amplified voices outside the traditional national-security community, including liberal economist Alessandro De Nicola, who warned that selling strategic infrastructure to a foreign SOE made little economic or strategic sense.
- Parliament took notice — briefly
- Formiche’s reporting triggered an official parliamentary question by the Five Star Movement, citing the outlet’s investigations and asking the Renzi government to explain the lack of safeguards.
Why it matters: This was five years before Italy joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative and a full decade before “de-risking” became EU doctrine.
- The CDP Reti deal is now seen in Rome as the original sin — the moment when China gained visibility into, and influence over, the infrastructure of a G7 country.
- For the U.S., the case shows:
- How quickly China could advance in Europe when strategic awareness was low.
- How vulnerable critical infrastructure can be when governments view it through a purely financial lens.
- How independent journalism — in this case, by Formiche — can identify geopolitical risks long before institutions do.
The Retrospective: Formiche Was Right. In the years that followed, Formiche returned repeatedly to the case, arguing that the 2014 decision would be unthinkable today:
- 2019: “Why China wants Italy’s strategic assets”
- 2021: “That deal wouldn’t happen now — and here’s why”
- 2023: “The government now holds the golden power card”
- 2025: “When Italy first opened the door to the Chinese dragon”
Today, analysts inside and outside government admit that the CDP Reti operation would face block-level scrutiny — if not outright rejection.
What’s next: Italy is now attempting to disentangle itself from parts of Beijing’s influence and has signalled a sharper alignment with the Atlantic. But the CDP Reti precedent remains a case study in how strategic blindness can shape a country’s vulnerabilities for years.
- And it raises a broader question — one that Formiche asked a decade ago and is still asking today: How did a country like Italy allow such deep Chinese penetration into its energy backbone without an honest political debate?
Decode39 will continue tracking the answer.
