Unbeknownst to the Italian authorities, in 2018 China acquired a local company, Alpi Aviation Srl, for the development and production of drones. The company previously operated the drone array for the Italian military forces operating in Afghanistan.
China intends to transfer the production technologies and knowledge of the company acquired to China. The Chinese acquired the Italian company by a straw company from Hong Kong, and began moving the entire production line to China.
In 2018, the EU set rules for controlling and monitoring the acquisition of companies in order to curb the theft of knowledge by China, but most EU countries do not implement the rules. In the United States, there is a close monitoring and monitoring mechanism for investments in technology companies, with an emphasis on companies with products for the defense market.
This mechanism carefully examines foreign companies' investments in American companies in order to prevent Chinese takeover of knowledge and technologies critical to American national security, from an understanding of the ways in which Chinese industrial espionage operates.
In Europe there is no real strictness and there is no examination of the identity of foreign investors in companies, and especially in companies in the defense market.
The Italian company has been under the scrutiny of the Italian authorities since 2009. Alpi then tried to sell technologies and UAVs to Iran, and smuggle them to Iran from an airport in Italy. The company then denied any illegal attempt, as it claimed it only sold civilian technologies.
The company's connection to China was revealed this year during proactive inspections carried out by the economic police. Police have revealed that in 2018, 75 per cent of the company’s shares were acquired for four million euros, by a company from Hong Kong, Mars (HK) Information Technology Co.Ltd. This company was established only two months before the purchase of the shares. In addition, the company from Hong Kong invested about 1.5 million euros in the Italian company.