Q:  It’s reported that at the G7 Summit, President of European Commission accused China of ignoring global trade rules and supporting Chinese companies with massive subsidies. She added that China is weaponizing its dominant position in rare earth and flooding global markets with overcapacity. The G7 must diversify critical supply chains, particularly for raw materials, and act together on non-market policies and practices. What’s China’s comment?

A: We noted relevant reports. We express strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to those baseless and biased remarks that reflect double standards. China’s industrial subsidy policy follows the principles of openness, fairness, and compliance, and strictly adheres to the WTO rules. Chinese industries have thrived because of China’s hard work on innovation, well-established industrial and supply chains, participation in full market competition, and abundant human resources. They rely on their abilities, not subsidies. China’s new energy sector has contributed enormously to global climate actions and energy transition.

The so-called overcapacity story is nothing but a pretext used by relevant countries to go protectionist, simply because they fear for their own competitiveness and market shares. The problem is not “overcapacity,” but “over-anxiety.”In recent years, the EU has been adopting industrial policies with massive subsidies and support for European companies. It even publicly called for a “European preference.”Available data shows that from 2021 to 2030, the EU will provide more than EUR 1.44 trillion worth of subsidies. By 2024, over EUR 300 billion of subsidies had already been issued. The EU also rolled out a series of economic and trade toolkits. The EU is working to boost its growth and competitiveness. That requires giving up double standard, being more open and embracing cooperation.

Over the past 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China-EU cooperation has borne fruitful results that have benefited both sides. China will stay committed to high-standard opening-up. This will continue to provide vast market and growth opportunities to European companies. China stands ready to increase communication and coordination with the EU, properly handle trade differences, and achieve win-win and shared prosperity. That said, we firmly oppose any attempt to hurt China’s right to development or even assert one’s own interests at China’s expense.