On the sidelines of the EU-China summit on Friday 2 June, the European Commission and Chinese government signed a memorandum of understanding to start a dialogue on state aid control.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager and He Lifeng, Chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission. It creates a mechanism of consultation, cooperation and transparency between China and the EU in the field of state aid control.
The dialogue will enable the EU to share with China the European experience in enforcing state aid control. It will also enable the EU to learn more about the implementation of the newly adopted Fair Competition Review in China, which is aimed at preventing public policies from distorting and restricting competition while maintaining fair market competition and promoting a unified market, the European Commission states. In addition, the dialogue will further the EU's and China's mutual interest and joint work to promote fair global competition, the Commission says.
On the technical level, this new state aid cooperation dialogue with working groups is due to take place at least once a year, alternating between Brussels and Beijing. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)