EU trade commissioner sees People’s Republic as responsible.
EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis stressed in a speech Monday at Tsinghua University in Beijing that China “could do a lot to help reduce our perception of risk,” according to Reuters news agency. The stop in the Chinese capital is part of Dombrovskis’s four-day trip to China to discuss economic relations between the Asian country and the confederation.
European companies are deterred from making new investments in China because compliance obligations are difficult to understand, Dombrovskis added. However, according to the news portal France 24, he also stressed that companies from Europe would still be interested in investing in China, provided the conditions are right. The background is new laws in China on foreign relations, which, according to the EU trade commissioner, offered room for interpretation. The EU policymaker is also expected to discuss these points with Vice Premier He Lifeng in Beijing on Monday, according to Reuters.
The EU has long denounced an uneven playing field on the part of China, but is open to competition if it is fair, Reuters added.
Dombrovskis described the EU’s de-risking strategy as “not protectionist.” It was precisely this accusation that Europe was being protectionist that came from the People’s Republic after EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced anti-subsidy investigations of Chinese electric vehicles that would flood the European market last week.
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