Cartoon: Carlos Latuff

 
The Chinese business community firmly opposes EU to include Chinese companies in its 14th package of sanctions against Russia as well as EU's planned tariffs on China's electric vehicles (EVs), Zhao Ping, spokesperson for the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) said on Friday at a press conference. 

Responding to the bloc's inclusion of Chinese companies in its latest sanction package against Russia, Zhao said that it is typical unilateral sanction behavior and is not conducive to the sustained development of China-EU economic and trade cooperation, as it has no basis in international law and is not authorized by the United Nations Security Council. 

Zhao urged the EU to effectively comply with the WTO rules, immediately cancel the anti-subsidy investigation on China's EVs and unconditionally stop listing Chinese enterprises in its latest sanction package against Russia from the perspective of mutual benefit and win-win situation between China and Europe. The two sides should work together to strengthen the industrial chain and supply chain cooperation, and appropriately resolve the disputes through dialogue and consultations.

She said that EU business representatives including Swiss and French business communities expressed their voices in previous events that they pursue exchanges rather than confrontation and cooperation instead of sanctions. 

Meanwhile, they noted that China's economy is on the upswing in the long run with a broad market potential. China and the EU share the same goal of green development, and the industrial chain and supply chain in both sides are highly complementary.

The business communities on both sides have 10,000 reasons to deepen cooperation, mutual benefit, and pursue win-win partnerships, and there is no reason to confront against each other, Zhao noted. 

"Decoupling" and small yard and high fence policy will only hurt the willingness of Chinese enterprises to invest in the EU, while putting EU enterprises in a quagmire and affecting their prospects for development in China, Zhao said, adding that the CCPIT will cooperate with relevant departments and take all measures to effectively safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese enterprises.

China's Ministry of Commerce on Thursday said that the working teams of China and the European Commission have maintained close communication and stepped up the consultations, responding to a question on the launch of consultations between China and the EU on the anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese EVs.