The EU clearly lacks sincerity, China is prepared for countermeasures, and China and the EU are holding intensive trade consultations.

"Global Times" has learned that Chinese and EU teams held intensive consultations this week to discuss economic and trade issues, preparing for the first meeting of the China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism. It is understood that the EU has shown a clear lack of sincerity in the discussions, and is even preparing to negotiate while taking actions, brewing more protectionist measures, raising concerns that a China-EU trade war is imminent.

The "Global Times" has learned that while the EU expressed willingness to engage in dialogue with China, it has shown no sincerity in resolving the issues, and is even preparing to simultaneously introduce more economic and trade restrictions. This inevitably raises concerns that the first meeting of the China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism may have a bleak outlook. It is reported that China has always been committed to consultations and dialogue with the EU, but is also prepared to take resolute and necessary countermeasures at any time. Against this backdrop, the situation in China-EU economic and trade relations appears to be more complex, and differences in economic and trade matters between China and the EU may further escalate.

The EU has lacked sincerity in addressing China's concerns. For example, there is no new progress in the specific negotiations on price commitments for Chinese electric vehicles. In export controls, the EU demands that China address its concerns regarding rare earths, but there has been no progress in resolving individual cases of obstacles to Chinese imports from the EU.

Furthermore, the EU has launched nine investigations against Chinese companies under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, which has severely impacted Chinese companies' investments in the EU and has formed a new investment barrier.

As for the negotiations on modifying steel tariff concessions, the EU rarely responds to China's requests, and the damage caused by the relevant measures to China is far greater than the average impact on other countries.

More worryingly, the EU side has revealed that bilateral consultations will not affect its plans to use existing economic and trade tools and develop new restrictive instruments, which means that the continuous escalation of China-EU economic and trade frictions seems difficult to avoid.

Jian Junbo, director of the Center for China-EU Relations at the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University, told the "Global Times" that the EU's approach of ignoring China's core concerns and trying to negotiate while taking actions is wrong and will never work. Practices such as the China-US trade war have shown that China's determination to counter is firm and its measures are effective. Faced with active provocations from the EU, the Chinese government will not sit idly by and can take a series of specific countermeasures, including anti-discrimination investigations, industrial chain and supply chain security investigations, and imposing restrictions on the EU's advantageous products.

"To manage differences and conflicts, the EU must stop its protectionist steps and take concrete actions to respond to China's concerns," Jian Junbo said. In recent years, the EU's own competitiveness issues have become increasingly prominent, but instead of solving these problems through internal structural reforms, Brussels has increasingly tried to blame China and resort to protectionism.

According to media reports, EU member states have authorized the European Commission to take economic and trade measures against China, and the Commission plans to impose additional tariffs on Chinese plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

Jian Junbo stated that the EU's characterization of the so-called "trade imbalance" with China and the measures it has taken or proposed are completely wrong. These actions will not truly achieve bilateral trade balance, but could instead intensify economic and trade frictions and even harm the overall China-EU relationship. "For the EU, a more realistic and constructive approach is to properly manage differences, otherwise it will have to bear the serious consequences of China's countermeasures."

Source: Global Times

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