EU does not want trade war with Beijing, says bloc's ambassador to China

By Andrew Silver

The EU does not want a trade war with Beijing but five years of talks have yielded no real progress, the bloc's ambassador to China said on Saturday, adding that concern was growing over Chinese market access for European medical devices.

Trade frictions between the bloc and China have intensified over the past year after the EU launched an investigation into Chinese-made imports of electric vehicles (EVs) that prompted Beijing to launch probes into Europe's pork and dairy industries and curb brandy imports.

New EU tariffs of up to 45.3% on Chinese EV imports came into effect last week.

On top of that, the EU launched a probe into China's public procurement of medical devices in April, which Beijing swiftly criticised at the time.

Speaking at an event in Shanghai, the EU's Ambassador to China Jorge Toledo said talks with European medical device makers had shown they were being discriminated against in Chinese public procurement.

"We have found out, that it's clear ... European companies, that have been producing medical devices in China for the last two decades, are being discriminated against their Chinese competitors in public procurement," Toledo said at the 30th anniversary celebration of the China Europe International Business School.

"If that is true, and we know it's true, we will treat Chinese companies in Europe the same way we are treated here," he said. "We don't want a trade war. We just want transparency. We want a level playing field."