Pirelli Celebrates 20' Years Industrial Presence in China

11 Ottobre 2025

On October 10th, 2025 the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce (CICC) joined the event organized by Pirelli, at the Jining industrial hub, in the province of Shandong, to celebrate its 20 years of industrial presence in China, a significant milestone on its development journey in one of the world’s most dynamic automotive markets. Pirelli reaffirmed its long-term commitment and aim to further invest in the Country where, from 2005 to today, it has grown to count three plants and over 5,000 employees.

 

CICC was represented by Board Member Mattia Marino, CEO Ambrosetti (Beijing) Consulting Ltd., and CICC General Manager Antonella Fontanarosa.

 

 

The ceremony saw the participation of Niu Yishun, founder of the Hixih Group; Niu Teng, Chairman of the Hixih Group; Andrea Casaluci, CEO of the Pirelli Group and Andrea Maganzani, CEO of Pirelli Apac.

 

 

The Executive Vice Chairman of Pirelli Group, Marco Tronchetti Provera, who addressed the gathering via video, said: “We are proud of Pirelli’s twenty-year presence in China, a strategic market where we have built solid relationships and laid the foundations for future growth. In these 20 years we have constantly invested, collaborating with the central Government and local authorities, with industrial partners, clients and the community, always with respect for Chinese culture. This success is the result of a shared commitment and for this reason we wanted to celebrate with everyone who made it possible”.

 

 

The Ceo of Pirelli Group, Andrea Casaluci, said: “It’s a great value for Pirelli to be present in a country that is such a driving force in technological innovation, especially working with Chinese carmakers in contributing to the innovation of the sector. From our Headquarters in Milan, we develop advanced tyres, which are distributed in 160 countries and produced in our 18 plants around the world, including China which is and will remain a key market for the company. All of this would not have been possible without the support of our stakeholders to who I extend our sincere thanks”.

 

 

The founder of the Hixih Group Niu Yishun said: “As Pirelli's long-standing partner in Jining, we have witnessed firsthand how a global leader and a local enterprise can achieve remarkable synergy. This two-decade journey is built on profound mutual trust and a shared vision for excellence. We are confident that our deepened collaboration will continue to set a benchmark for international joint ventures, contributing even more substantially to the vitality and sophistication of the local manufacturing eco-system”.

 

 

In the presence of clients, suppliers and employees, the “20 Years of Tracks, Leading the Future” event retraced the stages of Pirelli’s success in China, built on an industrial culture made up of managerial excellence, skills, innovation, technology, brand and care for employees. The day also included a panel discussion on the future of the automotive sector which involved three of the most renowned experts of the sector in China: Li Daokui, Director of the center of academic research ACCEPT at Tsinghua University, Zhang Liqun, professor at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, President of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Rubber and materials industry expert and Alex Xie, Managing Director & Senior Partner of the Boston Consulting Group.

 

 

China, with a national car parc estimated at around 350 million vehicles and over 21 million sold (of which 45.5% electric) in just the first 8 months of 2025, is confirmed one of the key high end tyre market and, more generally, for the technology which represents the future of the automotive sector: from electric vehicles to connected mobility. The products’ high level of technological content, a Chinese commercial network of over 3,000 points of sale and the fame of the brand also boosted by Formula 1, have led China’s market, which continues to grow strongly, to account for 11% of Pirelli’s global sales in 2024.

 

 

With regard to connected mobility, the area covered by Pirelli with its Cyber™ Tyre, the world’s first integrated hardware and software system capable of collecting data from sensors inside the tyres, processing them through Pirelli proprietary software and algorithms, and communicating in real time with the vehicle’s electronics. This enables the development of new features that are fully integrated with the driving and control systems, enhancing the driving experience and improving safety. First launched with European carmakers, the Cyber™ Tyre is progressively spreading to other areas, including China where it was recently tested by local carmakers, with the aim of introducing it on new car models.

 

From the first plant to the “Pirelli Asia Pacific R&D Innovation Center”

 

As early as 2005 Pirelli had seen in China one of the markets of the future, building its first plant in the Country thanks to the partnership with the Hixih Group, which consolidated over time. Pirelli has progressively grown to a production capacity of around 15 million passenger car tyres, over 90% are High Value products and 2 million of motorcycle tyres serving not only the Chinese market, but also the APAC area, in line with the Company’s local-for-local strategy.

 

China’s importance for Pirelli can also be seen in the inauguration, in 2022, of the “Pirelli Asia Pacific Research and Development Innovation Center”, located in the Hixih Group industrial park, always in the city of Jining. The R&D center coordinates with the main center in Milan, as do the other 11 that Pirelli counts in the world, and permits avantgarde experimentation based on the Open Innovation model and cooperation with Universities such as the South China University of Technology and Beijing University of Chemical Technology. Thanks also to targeted research activities, in China Pirelli is progressively becoming the leader in the High Value segment, consolidating partnerships with the leading global and Chinese carmakers.

 

 

 

All Pirelli’s plants in China respect the group’s elevated sustainability standards. The attention to the ecological transition has enabled the company’s local factories to obtain “Class A” certification for emissions from the local environmental authorities and the Yanzhou hub, in particular, the group also received the prestigious national recognition of "Green Factory". 

 

 

CICC Chairman Lorenzo Riccardi has previously visited Pirelli Shanghai to meet Andrea Maganzani CEO Asia Pacific of Pirelli Group, to promote cooperation with the Italian business community and highlight the importance of the 20th anniversary of Pirelli in China.

 

Copyright ©2016 by China-Italy Chamber of Commerce
Website Maintenance China | flow.asia
京ICP备06006969号-1

Associati alla Camera

Entra a far parte di un network di oltre 500 aziende italiane e straniere, presenti in Cina e in Italia. Ottieni maggiore visibilità grazie a sponsorship, opportunità di collaborazione e pubblicità sul sito web della CICC.

Learn More