/ world today news/ The growing protectionist tendencies in the European Union (EU) regarding clean energy will harm the interests of consumers there and pose obstacles to wider economic cooperation with China, Chinese analysts believe. In what Bloomberg described as “one of Beijing’s strongest rebuttals yet to the EU’s approach to protecting its emerging green energy sector,” the head of China’s mission in Brussels, Fu Kun, said on Friday that the union’s decision to launch an anti-subsidy investigation into electric vehicle imports from China is “unfair and deplorable”. Fu further warned that “there are also reports that Chinese photovoltaic products and wind turbines may also be subject to investigations” by the EU.
“It should be noted that good momentum in the global green and low-carbon transition did not come easily, and therefore the formation of narrow blocs and the imposition of unilateral and protectionist measures should be avoided, and attempts to ‘unbundle’ or ‘reduce ‘risk’, which endangers global supply chains and ultimately not to jeopardize global cooperation on climate change,” Fu Kun said.
Last week, the European Commission (EC) launched an anti-subsidy investigation against electric vehicles produced in China by BYD, SAIC Motor and Geely. All three firms are selected through sampling. The American company Tesla is not among those under investigation at the moment.
If the EU investigation finds “evidence of subsidies”, an “average anti-subsidy tax” will be calculated and levied on all EVs imported from China.
“When it comes to green development, the right thing to do is to work in solidarity and seek mutual benefits. In this way, we will be able to give more positive energy and more security in the global fight against climate change,” Fu Kun said.
Last week, the European Commission pledged to do more to protect the struggling wind power sector, aiming to “counter China’s growing influence in manufacturing,” according to Bloomberg. However, Chinese analysts believe that growing protectionist tendencies in the EU will harm the interests of domestic consumers and prevent the continent from pursuing clean energy and low-carbon goals that require a tripling of its renewable energy capacity this decade.
Ye Bin, a research fellow at the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, commented that in addition to protectionist trade actions, recent legislative processes also show that the EU is “closing the door” to Chinese investors in the field. “Such a stance on clean energy that prioritizes competition over cooperation with China demonstrates EU policymakers’ ‘unbundling’ intentions in this emerging high-value-added supply chain and could lead to new obstacles in bilateral trade and investment ties,” predicted Ye Bin.
The European Commission’s anti-subsidy investigation, launched without a request from EU companies, has already raised questions among European businesses about a potential response from China. “The history of global economic development shows that one will only fall into a trap by choosing protectionism and will not succeed or get far by pursuing ‘unbundling’ or disruption of industry and supply chains,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning at a press conference last Thursday.
On October 12, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the EU (CCCEU) said that the EU’s investigation into Chinese electric vehicles has not significantly changed the confidence and determination of Chinese enterprises to deeply explore European and global markets. The investigation is “not helpful” in achieving its own environmental targets, especially as the EU launches a legislative target to ban the sale of new fuel-efficient vehicles in 2035, the CCCEU’s position said.
Industry insiders said the EU should take an objective view of the development of China’s electric car industry, whose rapid growth in recent years has been based on competitive advantages rather than national subsidies. Lutz Meschke, Porsche’s chief financial officer, said the EU’s move was “not very helpful” for the bloc as a whole, and for Germany in particular, the Financial Times reported on Oct. 25. “As a careful guardian of iconic European car brands for more than a decade, it views free trade, including for electric vehicles, as beneficial for all consumers and as a help in the fight against global climate change,” Geely Holdings said in a statement to Global Times.
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