A Chinese couple has been shot dead in what authorities describe as a mafia-style execution in Rome, amid escalating violence linked to a Chinese criminal gang war.
Zhang Dayong, 53—also known by the alias “Asheng”—and his partner Gong Xiaoqing, 38, were gunned down near their residence in the eastern Pigneto district of the Italian capital late Monday night, according to police reports.
Investigators say the couple were returning home when two assailants on a motorcycle approached and opened fire at close range. Both victims were shot in the back of the head and died at the scene.
Authorities believe the double homicide may be tied to ongoing turf wars between rival Chinese Triad factions, part of what prosecutors have dubbed the “Coat Hanger Wars”—a violent power struggle that began in the Tuscan city of Prato and has since spread to other regions, including Rome.
Prosecutors suspect the killings could have been an act of retaliation. Zhang Dayong had known ties to Naizhong Zhang, a Chinese-Italian underworld boss currently on trial in Florence. Naizhong is accused of running a sprawling criminal network involved in illicit operations across Italy, France, Germany, and Spain, including monopolizing the fashion logistics sector through intimidation and violence.
Dayong reportedly played a key role in enforcing the gang’s influence in Rome, overseeing illegal gambling operations, loan-sharking, and debt collection activities.
He was also identified as a significant figure in “China Truck,” a 2018 anti-mafia investigation led by prosecutors in Florence, which exposed widespread trafficking and organized crime activity by Chinese syndicates operating out of Prato.
Authorities have launched a full-scale investigation, but no arrests have been made as of yet.
