China’s commerce officials have recently held intensive meetings with Chinese companies operating in European countries including Spain, Portugal and Greece, calling for efforts to avoid an out-of-control escalation of trade friction through talks, according to China’s state media.
Accusations of “unfair competition” against China are groundless, and that fair competition is the consensus of all countries and the cornerstone of international exchanges, and it cannot be defined by a few countries, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said at a roundtable meeting with Chinese business in Lisbon, Portugal, last week.
True fair competition means striving to improve oneself, rather than tripping up others, and it should be open, cooperative, equal and mutually beneficial, rather than exclusive, he said.
It also means following rules that have international consensus, rather than breaking or tampering with them at will, he added.
China advocates win-win cooperation, but it neither evades nor fears competition. It welcomes healthy competition, and opposes vicious competition designed to contain and suppress, Wang said.
Regarding EU’s anti-subsidy investigation of Chinese electric vehicles, the right way for the two sides to get along is to expand cooperation and achieve win-win results amid healthy competition, Wang said during a recent visit to a joint venture between China’s Chery Automobile and Spain’s Ebro-EV Motors in Barcelona, Spain.
He expressed the hope that the European side will abandon trade protectionism and return to the correct path of dialogue and cooperation.
That came as the European Commission (EC) is reportedly set to announce planned tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles this week.
Less than one month after the US imposed additional tariffs on Chinese EVs, the EU is anticipated to disclose this week the tariffs it plans to impose on Chinese EVs, Reuters reported.
More than 40 Chinese companies operating across Europe voiced grave concerns about the EU’s escalating protectionism during the meetings with Chinese commerce officials, according to a statement from the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU).
They called on the Chinese government to address urgent issues, including the EU’s anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese-made EVs and Brussels’ use of unilateral tools such as the Foreign Subsidies Regulation that specifically target Chinese enterprises, it said.
