The European Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, is in China for a four-day trip until 26 September, where he is endeavouring to keep the channels of communication open between the EU and Beijing. On Monday 25 September, he took part in the 10th EU-China high-level economic and trade dialogue with the Chinese vice-premier, He Lifeng. Alongside this event, Mr Dombrovskis is taking part in various bilateral meetings, as well as speaking at two universities in Beijing and Shanghai.
The aim of this series of meetings was to explain to Beijing the many concerns Europeans have about market access and the business environment, and to explain to their Chinese counterparts the recent European announcements designed to respond to these challenges.
This is why Commissioner Dombrovskis has mentioned in all his speeches the discrimination suffered by European companies on Chinese soil. Addressing students at Tsinghua University in Beijing, he spoke of “the lack of transparency, unequal access to public procurement, discriminatory standards, conditions relating to security and obligations regarding the localisation and transfer of data”.
Confronted by the Deputy Prime Minister, He Lifeng, Mr Dombrovskis also highlighted the asymmetry of EU/China trade and economic relations. While the two sides agreed to set up working groups or re-establish certain dialogues (on macroeconomic cooperation or financial services, for example), they were content to “hope” for changes to existing trade barriers. This is the case for access to European medical equipment in China, or powdered infant milk from the EU.
China is willing to take a step towards the EU, in particular by speeding up market access procedures for European agricultural products, said He Lifeng. Generally speaking, “China is ready to import more products from the EU”, he maintained. However, he hopes that “the EU will remove export restrictions on advanced technology products to China”.
The Chinese vice-premier also expressed his “strong concern and dissatisfaction” following the EU's announcement that it was launching an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles (see EUROPE 13249/1).
Earlier, speaking to students at Tsinghua University, Mr Dombrovskis justified the Commission's action and sought to reassure them that it would be carried out in the future: “I can assure you that we will carry out this work diligently, in consultation with the Chinese authorities and stakeholders, and we will follow well-established rules”.
The Commissioner also used his various speeches to reiterate the EU's position on the war in Ukraine, and called on China to cooperate more closely to get the Black Sea Grain Initiative back on track. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)