Amid EV row with EU, China to ‘stand on grounds of fair competition’, Mofcom says

China will continue to support the “normal trade and investment” of Chinese carmakers in Europe despite a spat over tariff hikes, the Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) said as it still seeks to negotiate toward a resolution on levies that kicked in for Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) this week.

At a regular news briefing on Thursday, Mofcom spokesman He Yadong responded to a report alleging that China had told its car manufacturers to halt big investments in the European countries that supported tariffs on Chinese EVs.

“China has always supported and encouraged any normal trade and investment opportunities in the Chinese automobile industry,” He said when asked if Beijing could confirm the report by Reuters on Wednesday.

“China will uphold an open and market-oriented approach, and will stand on grounds of fair competition when we cooperate with countries in the automobile industry.”

Beijing and Brussels have still shown their intention to continue with trade talks despite the EU tariffs on imported Chinese EVs having kicked in on Wednesday.

While such discussions would likely feature less wiggle room than the previous rounds of talks, given that the tariffs – as high as 43.5 per cent – have already kicked off, the two sides appeared to be still exploring available bargaining chips, which include making deals with individual Chinese carmakers on how they can adjust the price and volume of their imports for the European market.