Under a previous shareholder agreement between Sinochem and Mr Tronchetti Provera, who has run the company since 1992, the CEO was entitled to pick his successor. But Sinochem had proposed a new agreement eliminating that provision, amid rising tensions between Mr Tronchetti Provera and his Chinese partners. This updated agreement was presented to the Italian government in March, triggering a review. Italy’s sweeping “golden power” over investments in strategic national assets allows it to veto takeovers, force stake sales or impose other restrictions on foreign investors in certain assets. At the time of Sinochem’s Pirelli investment in 2015, these powers…