China 'very concerned' about EU investigation into its wind turbine makers

“I think the outside world is worried about the growing protectionist tendencies of the European Union,” Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the press.

“China is very concerned about the discriminatory measures taken by Europeans against Chinese companies and even industries,” she added.

After automobiles, railways and solar panels, the European Union began a new standoff with China on Tuesday, against a backdrop of trade tensions with Beijing.

“Today we are launching a new investigation into Chinese wind turbine suppliers", announced Tuesday the European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager.

“We are studying the conditions for developing wind farms in Spain, Greece, France, Romania and Bulgaria,” she said, speaking from the United States, during a speech at the University of Princeton, New Jersey.

“Unfair public subsidies”

According to Commissioner Vestager, Beijing exports “at low prices” to the rest of the world to compensate for its own economic slowdown.

“The result is that today, less than 3% of solar panels installed in the EU are produced in Europe,” she stressed.

“This strategy is now deployed in all areas of clean technologies, in traditional semiconductors and beyond,” detailed the Danish manager.

These remarks by the European Commissioner were made after a visit of a few days to China by the American Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, who was concerned on Monday about the "overcapacity" of Chinese production, especially in technologies, due to heavy public subsidies.

Washington "will not accept" the flood of Chinese products sold at a loss on the world market, as has already happened in the past, Janet Yellen warned.

The EU investigation comes amid new European rules that came into force in mid-2023 to prevent third-country subsidies suspected of creating unfair competition in tenders.

In the EU, Chinese wind turbines are sold at prices up to 50% lower than those of European competitors, says WindEurope, the sector's European lobby.

“It is not possible to do this without unfair public subsidies,” assured Giles Dickson, its director general, who welcomed the announcement of the EU investigation.

"Protectionism"

On Wednesday, Mao Ning denounced European “protectionism”. "Protectionism cannot solve the EU's own problems", she judged, "it protects development delays (...) and causes multilateral losses".

"We urge the European side to respect WTO rules and market principles, and China will firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises," the spokesperson said.

As of Tuesday, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the EU denounced “an act of economic coercion” and the “continuous deployment of new tools against Chinese companies”.

Brussels opened its first investigation in mid-February within the framework of the new anti-subsidy regulations, targeting a subsidiary of the Chinese railway manufacturer CRRC, the world number one in the sector.

This state group, a candidate for the supply of electric trains in Bulgaria, finally withdrew from this call for tenders at the end of March.

On April 3, the European Commission announced a second investigation targeting two candidate consortia to design, build and operate a photovoltaic park in Romania.

The first consortium includes a subsidiary of the Chinese giant Longi, the world's leading manufacturer of photovoltaic cells. The second combines two subsidiaries controlled by the Chinese state group, Shanghai Electric.

In another regulatory framework, the EU launched an investigation in September into Chinese public subsidies for electric automobiles, in order to defend European industry in the face of prices deemed “artificially low”. Brussels is threatening to increase customs duties on these products.