China dismisses western complaints over exports

China’s Premier Li Qiang has sought to counter western criticism of the country’s industrial strategy, saying the country’s exports were a benefit to world trade.

Speaking at a World Economic Forum event in the city of Dalian, Li said China’s production of new energy products such as lithium batteries and electric vehicles, which has soared in recent years, was “enriching global supply”. His comments come weeks after the EU unveiled tariffs of up to 38 per cent on EVs made in China and as tensions between Beijing and the west escalate.

Li also stressed the openness of China’s market at a time when complaints over foreign access have intensified and the role of the government — and the hefty subsidies it gives to industry — has come under scrutiny in Washington and Brussels.

“China’s market is large and open,” he said. “Multinational and domestic companies compete on a level playing field, communicate and co-operate,” he said, adding they had together “become an important force in promoting the development and growth of emerging industries”.

Beijing has heavily emphasised its industrial strategy this year, backing everything from artificial intelligence to renewables, against an economic backdrop where a prolonged property slowdown has weighed on growth. Li said the economy was on course to meet a growth target of about 5 per cent this year.

China’s minister of commerce Wang Wentao over the weekend entered into talks with the EU over the tariffs, which follow an investigation into state subsidies and are yet to be finalised. The US, which imports much smaller volumes of EVs from China, announced EV levies of 100 per cent earlier this year. 

Robert Habeck, vice-chancellor of Germany, who travelled to Beijing and Shanghai in recent days, welcomed the talks and has said the door was “open for discussions”.

The German auto industry, which has a big presence in mainland China where it faces domestic competition, also stands to be affected by the tariffs. Trade tensions with China have intensified after a period of worsening geopolitical relations with the west, including a focus on reducing supply-chain dependency on mainland China.

Reiterating comments made at the same conference last year, Li said that the “regressive actions of decoupling” would drag the world into a “destructive spiral” where “fierce competition for a larger slice results in a smaller pie”.

He also emphasised that the rise of Chinese industry was part of a global tech revolution, adding that its products helped to address climate change.

Li said there was a need for a “more fair non-discriminatory business environment for tech”. Western business groups and foreign leaders have repeatedly complained over market access constraints in the mainland.

At a separate panel at the WEF event, BMW vice-president Patrick Mueller said they still looked to increase investment in China and cited a recently announced billion-dollar investment in a battery factory.