"We continue to buy stakes in Italian companies, but now we're careful to remain below the 2 percent threshold so that we're not obliged to disclose them," Zhou Xiachuan told Corriere della Sera daily in Davos.

Regulatory filings with market watchdog Consob have revealed that China's central bank holds stakes of around 2 percent in Italy's biggest utility Enel (>> Enel S.p.A.), power grid Terna (>> Terna - Rete Elettrica Nazionale SpA), merchant bank Mediobanca (>> Mediobanca Group), oil services firm Saipem (>> Saipem SpA) and telecoms group Telecom Italia (>> Telecom Italia SpA).

It has also bought stakes of a little more than 2 percent in oil major Eni (>> Eni SpA), insurer Generali (>> Assicurazioni Generali SpA) and carmaker Fiat Chrysler .

Italian rules oblige investors to disclose investments of more than 2 percent in a listed company.

Zhou said the central bank's overall investments in Italian assets were worth around 100 billion euros (77 billion pounds), including government bonds.

(Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Mark Potter)