At least 14 police officers, including two women, were injured or bruised in scuffles which broke out in central Milan on Thursday as Chinese shopkeepers and residents protested against alleged police repression.
Hundreds of Chinese immigrants took to the streets for several hours in the area around Via Paolo Sarpi, waving Chinese flags and holding up banners accusing police of hounding the community.
Bottles were thrown at police and two police cars were badly damaged in clashes which appeared to have started when a female traffic warden fined a Chinese woman who was transporting merchandise in her car at about 9 am.
According to Milan's Deputy Mayor Riccardo De Corato, what followed was "an authentic attack on our traffic police".
As well as the police officers who needed hospital treatment, several Chinese residents were also hurt. No precise figures were immediately available.
Mayor Letizia Moratti confirmed that police had recently been trying to make sure rules governing commercial deliveries to shops were respected in the Via Sarpi area, the centre of Milan 'Chinatown'.
She pointed out that all over the city goods deliveries are only allowed between 10 am and 2 pm.
The council had received thousands of letters from Italians living around Via Sarpi complaining that the pavements and streets were always clogged with vans and trollies, she said.
"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 Chinese consul to Milan, Limin Zhang, who was present in Via Sarpi during part of the disturbances, admitted he did not know exactly how the incidents began but defended his compatriots.
"This episode is no coincidence. We have been put under intense pressure for the last two months. I am here to protect the legal interests of the Chinese shopkeepers who pay their taxs and respect rules".
He fiercely denied police suggestions that the protest had been deliberately fomented, using a quarrel over a traffic violation as a pretext.
"They've been fining us for months for pushing hand carts and they even confiscate our bicycles if there's anything in the front basket," said one Chinese youth.
