The Chinese government on Friday intervened in a spat between Milan's Chinese community and the local authorities, calling for "balanced" solutions to problems which sparked a mini-riot in the north Italian city.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement urging the authorities in Milan to "take into account the reasonable needs and legal interests of Chinese residents abroad".
Chinese shopkeepers living in Milan's small Chinatown clashed with riot police and traffic wardens on Thursday over a crackdown on commercial traffic in the area.
At least 25 police officers were injured and more than a dozen protesters.
Bottles were thrown at baton-wielding police and two police cars were badly damaged as hundreds of Chinese residents took to the streets for several hours in the area around Via Paolo Sarpi and Via Bramante, the heart of Milan's Chinatown.
The demonstrators waved Chinese flags and held up banners accusing police of targeting their community.
At least 400 staged a sit-in on a nearby main road, causing havoc for motorists.
The protest, which was covered by the Chinese media, began after a traffic warden fined a Chinese woman who was transporting merchandise in her car.
The Chinese say the fine was the last straw, as tensions that had been simmering for weeks boiled over.
Milan's 13,000-strong Chinese community accuse the authorities of hounding them over the past two months, imposing fines and inspections on shopkeepers and merchants for breaching road and trading regulations and confiscating their goods trolleys, which they are not allowed to use for transporting merchandise.
The authorities are attempting to force the Chinese to abide by laws governing the hours in which merchandise can be unloaded and the methods by which they shift their goods from their vehicles to their shops to prevent them obstructing the streets.
Italians living in the neighbourhood have been angrily complaining for more than a year that the pavements and streets are always clogged with vans and trollies.
They want the dozens of wholesale clothing and footwear stores filling the area to be moved elsewhere.
But the Chinese say the clampdown has come out of the blue and that Italians and other foreign communities are not being subjected to the same treatment.
Milan Mayor Letizia Moratti confirmed that police had recently been trying to make sure rules governing commercial deliveries to shops were respected in the Chinatown area.
She pointed out that all over the city goods deliveries are only allowed between 10 am and 2 pm.
"We will not tolerate having no-go areas in the city. It is outrageous that such incidents should be sparked by a violation of road regulations," she said at a press conference.
The situation appeared back to normal on Friday, with Chinatown shops open for business as usual and a handful of police monitoring their activities from a street corner.
Very few trollies were in sight as merchants hauled their goods around manually, taking care not to leave them on the pavement and risk a fine for obstruction.
One shopkeeper told ANSA: "We are working away like we do everyday. We hope there won't be any more problems but we had to speak out".
The protest also sparked political reactions, with some centre-right opposition parties demanding tighter immigration controls.
Former reform minister Roberto Calderoli, a member of the devolutionist Northern League party which is frequently criticised as anti-immigrant, said: "We have seen the first real revolt by the foreign community. If things carry on like this, they will soon be running our country and passing the laws that suit them".
Opposition chief and ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi said that "the line to follow is that of solidarity joined with legality, of social policies but also respect for the rules".
There are currently 1,900 Chinese shops and businesses operating in Milan. In Via Bramante alone, there is a Chinese store every nine metres and the number of shops is estimated to jump by 10% per year.
