China Raises Its Voice Against Europe

Deputy Premier He Lifeng expresses China’s “strong discontent” regarding the European investigation into subsidies.

Before any analysis, let’s recall that “strong discontent” in Chinese political language, which is always very diplomatic, can translate as “enormous anger”, or even “absolute fury”!

The European Union decided to take a strong stance at the beginning of the month by directly denouncing the Chinese government’s interventionism. “ Global markets are now flooded with cheap Chinese electric cars, whose prices are artificially kept low through massive public subsidies. Europe is open to competition. Not to a race to the bottom”, declared Ursula von der Leyen in Strasbourg before the European deputies. She also announced the opening of a countervailing duty investigation against China, provoking Beijing’s fury.

China Shows Its Muscles

During a meeting with European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis in Beijing, He Lifeng directly expressed his country’s anger. ” China once again expresses its deep concern and strong discontent regarding the EU’s plan to launch an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles.” he stated soberly, while maintaining the threat of harsh sanctions on all European imports.

While some European manufacturers with strong interests in China have voiced their concern, Mercedes leading the opposition to sanctions against China, Valdis Dombrovskis reiterated the European Union’s commitment to the principles of fair competition, provided that it is balanced. ” Fair competition must be play” he insisted, assuring that the “win-win” relationship established with China risks becoming a “lose-lose” situation in the coming years.

From hidden subsidies, espionage suspicions, to imbalances in import taxes, China has been recently accused of numerous issues. It must be said that the threat continues to grow as Beijing has recorded a new record by exporting 3.22 million cars in 2023.