2023-09-25 07:09:04
BEIJING (AP) — The European Union’s trade commissioner on Monday called for a more balanced economic relationship with China, pointing to a trade deficit of nearly 400 billion euros ($425 billion), and also warned that China’s stance China over war in Ukraine could threaten its relationship with Europe.
In a speech at China’s prestigious Tsinghua University, Valdis Dombrovskis said the EU and China face significant political and economic complications that could tear them apart.
“The strongest, although not the only one, is Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and how China positions itself on the issue,” he said, according to a prepared text of his speech.
Dombrovskis was in China to co-chair high-level trade and economic talks with China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng on Monday. EU leaders have expressed concern about the bloc’s growing trade deficit with China, which reached €396 billion last year. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently announced an investigation into Chinese subsidies for electric vehicle manufacturers, arguing that the massive influx of cheaper Chinese cars is distorting the European market.
The Chinese government has described the investigation as a protectionist measure intended to distort the supply chain. In his speech in Tsinghua, Dombrovskis said the probe would follow established rules and include consultations with Chinese authorities and investors.
The European trade commissioner urged China to address the lack of reciprocity in economic relations, saying “the numbers speak for themselves.”
China, he noted, has created a more politicized business environment to protect its national security and development interests, resulting in less transparency, disparate access to procurement, and discriminatory security standards and requirements.
As an example, he pointed to a new foreign relations law and a review of the anti-espionage law, which has caused doubts among European companies about their legal obligations.
“Their ambiguity leaves too much room for interpretation,” he said of the laws, adding that they deter new investment in China.
Chinese authorities have tried to revive foreign investment to help the economy emerge from a persistent paralysis despite the lifting of pandemic restrictions last December.
The Chinese government has attempted to remain neutral in the war in Ukraine rather than join the United States and much of Europe in condemning the Russian invasion. Dombrovskis, who is Latvian, noted that territorial integrity has always been a key principle for China in international diplomacy.
“Russia’s war is a clear violation of this principle,” he said, according to his prepared speech. “So we find it very difficult to understand China’s stance on Russia’s war against Ukraine, as it violates China’s own fundamental principles.”
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