The collaboration between China and the European Union in the realm of climate change has seen significant advancements. This cooperation has increasingly become a highlight of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two sides, according to an official from China's top environmental authority on Sunday.
"Climate change is a common challenge facing all of humanity. Both China and the EU, as influential developing and developed economies, respectively, attach great importance to addressing climate issues," Pei Xiaofei, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), told the Global Times at the ministry's monthly press conference on Sunday.
The two sides have a solid foundation for climate cooperation. In recent years, they have issued joint statements on climate change, jointly initiated ministerial meetings on climate action, and signed and implemented a memorandum of understanding on enhancing carbon emission trading cooperation, conducting fruitful policy dialogues and practical cooperation.
"Climate change cooperation has increasingly become a highlight of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Europe," he noted.
From April 8 to 11, a delegation representing climate envoys from the European Union and member states France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark successfully visited China.
During their visit, Special Envoy Liu Zhenmin and Deputy Minister Zhao Yingmin met with their European counterparts to discuss the focal points of the multilateral climate process, respective climate policies and actions, and China-Europe climate cooperation, according to Pei.
"Both sides agreed to implement the important consensus of Chinese leaders, deepen climate dialogue and cooperation, and jointly promote global climate governance," he introduced.
In 2020, China and the EU decided to establish a China-EU High-level Environment and Climate Dialogue and a China-EU High-level Digital Cooperation Dialogue, and forge China-EU green and digital partnerships.
This action not only enriches the strategic content of China-EU cooperation but also provided a systematic framework for China and Europe to jointly address the challenges of the era, Pei said.
China is willing to work with Europe to deepen planning cooperation in areas such as international climate negotiations, carbon markets, climate adaptation, and climate finance, and to make a positive contribution to the global response to climate change, he said.
According to the Dutch Embassy in China, the envoys learned about the impacts of climate change on China and visited the State Grid Corporation of China to discuss challenges and solutions related to integrating renewable energy into the power grid.
The embassy's report highlighted that this visit marked a crucial step in China-Europe climate diplomacy and laid the groundwork for successful future cooperation. Constructive and regular dialogue between the EU and China is deemed essential for enhancing mutual understanding.
China's climate envoy Liu, before the visit, told the Global Times at an event in South China's Hainan Province that "our exchanges aim to strengthen the sharing of experiences in responding to climate change. The dialogue between China, Europe, and the US mainly focuses on how to effectively maintain measures against climate change and the multilateral process of global climate change."
The free trade agreement (FTA) between China and Ecuador will become effective from May 1, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Monday. The move comes as China welcomes foreign ministers from Argentina, Bolivia and Peru as relationship between China and Latin American countries deepens.
Experts said that the deepened trade ties between China and Latin American countries show a clear economic complementarity between the two sides, which has strong sustainability and is less vulnerable to global economic and geopolitical factors.
China and Ecuador will cancel tariffs on 90 percent of tax items from each other in phases, of which about 60 percent will be canceled immediately after the agreement comes into effect, the MOFCOM said.
It means that most products from China entering the Ecuadorian market, such as plastic products, chemical fibers, steel products, machinery, electrical equipment, furniture, automobiles and parts, lithium batteries, will see import tariffs gradually reduced from the current 5 to 40 percent to zero. Similarly, Ecuadorian products like bananas, shrimp, fish, fish oil, fresh and dried flowers, cocoa, and coffee entering the Chinese market will also see import tariffs gradually reduced from the current 5 to 20 percent to zero.
"China has been making significant progress in advancing free trade negotiations in Latin America in recent years, including with Ecuador and it showcases a clear economic complementarity between the two sides," Zhou Zhiwei, an expert in Latin American studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told the Global Times.
Ecuador's agricultural and seafood products to China are expected to see significant boost once the FTA comes into effect, Zhou said.
The recent visits of several Latin American foreign ministers to China also reflect the positive trend of cooperation between China and Latin American countries and the complementarity of both sides in the economic field which "has strong sustainability and is less vulnerable to global economic and geopolitical factors," Zhou noted.
Argentina's Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade, and Worship, Diana Mondino, is visiting China from Saturday to May 1.
In addition, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bolivia Celinda Sosa Lunda and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru Javier González-Olaechea Franco are also visiting China from April 28 to 30.
There are extensive prospects for cooperation between China and Argentina in the fields of new energy, with Argentina being a country rich in lithium resources, Jiang Shixue, a professor at the Center for Latin American Studies at Shanghai University, told the Global Times on Monday.
According to public information, China is Argentina's second largest trading partner, accounting for 13.8 percent of Argentina's total foreign trade. China is also Argentina's third largest export market and second largest source of imports. Chinese direct investment in Argentina is mainly focused on infrastructure, energy, and the new-energy industry.
Advancing in areas such as energy transition and agricultural cooperation is essential to support Argentina's key industries, Zhou said.
In terms of new-energy cooperation, the maturity of Chinese technology, coupled with predictable investments, is crucial for countries like Argentina to achieve sustainable economic growth, Zhou added.
The active communication and exchanges between China and Latin American countries also showed their confidence in China's market and economic growth, experts said.
As Latin American countries are intensively seeking cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries, the importance of China in the Asia-Pacific region is undeniable when considering market demand and investment availability, Zhou said.
China's trade with Latin American countries expanded 8.3 percent year-on-year in the first three months of 2024 to reach $120.63 billion, according to data from Chinese Customs.
China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Wednesday it firmly opposes Washington's abuse of export controls and relentless attacks on certain Chinese firms, after the US revoked chip export licenses to Huawei amid suppression of China's tech sector.
The US revoked licenses that allowed companies including Intel and Qualcomm to ship chips used for laptops and handsets to Huawei, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The US Commerce Department confirmed that it had revoked some licenses, without specifying which, according to the report.
The US export restrictions on the purely civilian use of chips are a typical act of economic coercion, which violates WTO rules and harms the interests of US firms, the MOFCOM said.
The actions taken by the US seriously violate its commitments to "not seeking decoupling from China" and "not hindering China's development" and they contradict the claim of "accurately defining national security," the MOFCOM added.
The move came after Huawei launched its first artificial intelligence-enabled laptop last month that uses Intel's new Core Ultra 9 processor, which drew fire from some US politicians, who claimed that such licenses had contributed to Huawei's resurgence.
Huawei was put on a US trade restriction list in 2019 meaning that the company's suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping. The licenses allow Qualcomm to sell older 4G chips for Huawei's handsets and Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in its laptops, Reuters reported.
US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul confirmed the administration's decision in an interview on Tuesday. He said the move is key to preventing China from developing advanced artificial intelligence (AI), Bloomberg reported.
Experts said that it is impossible for the US to stop China's development of advanced AI through these restrictions, and the measures taken by the US will only make Chinese companies more determined to develop alternatives.
These export restrictions mainly affect end products, which may have a short-term impact on the sales of some low-end Huawei phones and some laptops, but the long-term impact will not be significant, Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Beijing-based Information Consumption Alliance, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Xiang said that the US sanctions have forced Huawei to become even stronger. Huawei last year launched a new phone using its self-developed Kirin 9000S chip, a breakthrough that it was forced to make under the US sanctions.
As for laptop chips, if they are truly cut off, it will also make Huawei more determined to develop its own computer chips, Xiang said.
Despite the US restrictions, Huawei's revenue continues to grow rapidly. In the first quarter, Huawei achieved revenue of 178.45 billion yuan ($24.69 billion), up 36.66 percent year-on-year. Net profit rose more than fivefold to 19.65 billion yuan.
According to market research firm Canalys, in the first quarter, Huawei regained the top spot in the Chinese mainland smartphone market after 13 quarters, with a share of 17 percent.
Ma Jihua, a veteran telecom industry analyst, said that in response to the increasing chip capabilities of Chinese technology companies, the US has no more cards to play except to constantly patch up existing restrictions, a move that shows its bitterness in the face of China's technological advances.
The tightening of restrictions is merely a maneuver by certain US politicians to showcase their toughness on China. The actual impact is likely to be minimal and the effectiveness of the restrictions will diminish over time, Ma told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Forcing malicious competition against China, decoupling and cutting supply chains will only result in mutual harm, experts said.
As Chinese companies are progressing toward self-sufficiency, the performance of US companies is severely affected by the restrictions, resulting in weak demand for their products.
Bloomberg reported that Huawei is no longer among the top 10 customers of Qualcomm, and it is also not on Intel's list of top customers.
In April, Intel said its second-quarter revenue and profit would be below market estimates as it faces weak demand for its traditional data center and personal computer chips and trails in the surging market for AI components.
Over one-third of respondents from 20 countries expect the future relationship between China and the US to "maintain status quo," in the coming year while nearly one-third hope for relations "to be eased." Meanwhile, over half of respondents from 20 countries expressed great concern over the spillover effects of US domestic issues that might negatively impact the world, according to a recent survey conducted by the Global Times Institute (GTI) released on Saturday.
In the survey, close to 20 percent of respondents chose "conflict" as their preferred outcome in the question related to their expectations in the development of bilateral ties between China and the US in the coming year.
From November 7 to December 1, 2023, the GTI conducted a survey using a commercially available online sample library to invite respondents across 20 countries to participate. The survey was conducted in 16 languages including Chinese, English, Spanish, German, Arabic, and French, and targeted residents aged 18 and above in 20 countries including China, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Russia, Italy, Germany, France, the UK, the US, Australia, South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Brazil, and Argentina. A total of approximately 17,000 valid questionnaires were collected.
The survey covers a range of questions, including how respondents in foreign countries view China-US relations, the Chinese path to modernization, and how respondents anticipate their countries' relations with China will change.
Apart from China and the US, over 30 percent of respondents from 10 countries hope for the trend in the bilateral ties between China and the US to be eased with Germany, Italy, Indonesia, and South Korea exceeding 40 percent. Japan, Kenya, and India had over 40 percent of respondents hoping for the relationship to "maintain status quo," while 14 other countries had over 30 percent opting to maintain the status quo.
Seven countries had over 20 percent of respondents choosing "conflicts" between China and the US in the coming year with respondents in Argentina, Turkey, and India exceeding 30 percent.
For China and the US, the proportion of respondents hoping for the relationship to remain unchanged was very close. Chinese respondents had a higher percentage (9 percent) expressing hope for easement in bilateral ties compared to their American counterparts, while American respondents had higher percentages opting for conflicts and opining it was "hard to say" compared with Chinese respondents.
In 2023, China-US relations experienced a tumultuous year marked by various events from the "balloon incident," and the relentless imposition of restrictions by the US on China across multiple domains. However, a temporary easing of tensions occurred with the summit meeting between the two countries' leaders in San Francisco in November.
The interactions between China and the US this year have reached a new level, the highest in the last five years, Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times in a previous interview.
Wu noted that the success of the San Francisco summit has become a highlight in the bilateral relations in recent years, or could be seen as a new starting point for China-US relations. And the question now is whether the two sides can move forward.
On average, over half of the respondents from the 20 countries expressed a high level of concern (very worried + somewhat worried) about the spillover effects of US domestic political, economic, and social issues and their adverse impact on the world, with over a quarter having some concerns.
Looking at individual countries, Indonesia, the Philippines, Italy, Germany, and Kenya had over 60 percent of respondents expressing a high level of concern. Nine countries, including China, Japan, and South Korea, had a similar high proportions or above 50 percent.
Regarding the US itself, 22 percent of respondents expressed that they were "very worried," and 32 percent expressed that they were "somewhat worried." A quarter of respondents noted that they were "a little worried."
According to the GTI, when comparing the 2023 and 2022 survey results, 18 countries (excluding China and the US) showed a decrease in the perception of the probable success of the current US government in containing China's continued development by roping in other countries, dropping from 48.3 percent to 45.4 percent, a decline of approximately 3 percentage points.
In 2023, except for the Philippines, India, South Korea, and Brazil, the assessment of US success by the other 14 countries was below 50 percent. Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and Australia showed a significant decline in their assessment, ranging from 7 to 10 percentage points. Most other countries experienced minimal changes.
Chinese respondents' assessment of the probability of success of the current US government containing China's continued development by roping in other countries dropped significantly from 42.6 percent in 2022 to 28.3 percent in 2023, indicating a significant increase in confidence in countering US containment.
The recent escalation of conflict between Palestine and Israel is unusually intense in terms of casualties. Despite being the most important third party in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have called for "humanitarian pauses" to deliver lifesaving aid to millions in Gaza. Allowing the conflict to escalate in this manner will lead to more innocent civilian deaths and injuries. During a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on October 12, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, "You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there by your side." US President Joe Biden also promised unprecedented military assistance to Israel. In recent years, the US has faced international criticism for sidelining Palestinians' right to statehood and showing biased support for Israel. When will the US become a true peace mediator?
Pure lip service
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is currently the most complex and urgent international political issue facing the international community. The essence of the conflict lies in how Jews and Palestinians can achieve a just and lasting peace based on the "two-state solution." After World War II, Zionist organizations gradually sought support from the US to replace British presence in the region. On November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 181 on the partition of Palestine, deciding to establish an Arab state and a Jewish state in the region. On May 14, 1948, Israel was officially established based on this resolution, and the US, under President Harry Truman, quickly became the first country to recognize Israeli sovereignty. Since the early 1950s, the US, along with the UK and France, has issued declarations assuming security obligations toward Israel, and the military and economic assistance provided by the US to Israel has been continuous.
During the third Arab-Israeli war in 1967, Israel not only occupied all the Arab territories as stipulated in Resolution 181, but also captured the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, the Golan Heights of Syria, and other Arab territories. Faced with the new battlefield situation and Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed Resolution 242 on November 22, 1967, urging Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories in exchange for peace and recognition of borders. The principle of "land for peace" embodied in Resolution 242 has become an internationally recognized approach to addressing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. During the same period, as the rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union intensified, Israel, which held an increasingly strategic position in the Middle East, became a trump card for the US to contain Soviet expansion in the region.
After the fourth Arab-Israeli war in 1973, Egypt, burdened by its long-term involvement in the war, hoped to achieve peace with Israel. Israel also realized that simply occupying Egyptian territory and implementing defensive measures would not effectively solve its own security issues, so it began to explore the possibility of peace with Egypt. Subsequently, the US intervened in the peace process between Egypt and Israel, with then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger shuttling between Arab countries and Israel, conveying messages and successfully easing hostilities between the warring parties.
In March 1977, then US president Jimmy Carter said, "There has to be a homeland provided for the Palestinian refugees who have suffered for many, many years." However, such remarks were quickly met with strong opposition from Jewish groups in the US. In 1978, Carter hosted the Camp David peace negotiations between Egypt and Israel, which led to the normalization of relations between Israel and the first Arab country. The Camp David Accords included a call for relevant parties to engage in discussions on Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
For a long time, the international community has advocated for the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. However, the US has repeatedly disregarded the rights of the Palestinians. In November 1988, during the 19th extraordinary session of the Palestinian National Council, the establishment of the State of Palestine was declared, but its borders were not determined. On November 26 that same year, then US Secretary of State George Shultz issued a statement stating that the Reagan administration refused to grant a visa to Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), who was expected to attend a United Nations conference. This move by the US drew condemnation from many countries.
After the end of the Cold War, the US organized several peace negotiations on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but has since been unable to effectively resolve the differences between Palestine and Israel. The Roadmap for Peace in the Middle East launched in 2003 openly supports the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. The plan was proposed by former US president George W. Bush and was determined through joint consultations by the US, Russia, the United Nations, and the EU, with the aim of resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in three stages. The biggest difference between the Roadmap plan and previous plans was that it explicitly proposes the concept of two states "living side by side."
However, an article published in the Foreign Policy on October 19 argues that the "United States has long maintained that it supports a two-state solution to the conflict. But the reality is that little more than lip service has been paid to this goal, and with each passing crisis, Washington grows more and more aligned with Israel."
At the United Nations level, the US has continuously obstructed the efforts of Palestine to seek statehood. On November 29, 2012, on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution upgrading Palestine's status at the UN to "non-member observer state" status. However, at the Security Council level, the United States has consistently vetoed Palestine's bid for full UN membership.
Ignoring Palestinians' right to life and of return
Since the end of the Cold War, especially after the Oslo Accords in 1993, the US has continued to dominate Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations and still considers Israel as its main ally in the Middle East. The cooperation between the two countries includes enhancing Israel's military early warning capabilities, joint counter-terrorism efforts, intelligence sharing, and the prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. However, due to the US neglecting the concerns of the Palestinians and failing to address their demands on issues such as the status of Jerusalem, the delineation of the West Bank border, and the right of return for refugees, the negotiations have repeatedly failed.
The stagnation of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process has had a negative impact on the internal Palestinian sentiment, leading to new factional disputes. In the new century, the US has championed Western political values such as "democracy" and "free elections" and exerted pressure on the Palestinian Authority to hold open elections. After the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council elections, Hamas was widely supported and formed the government. However, the US and Israel, claiming that "terrorist organizations cannot join the government," jointly intervened in Palestinian internal affairs, leading to political instability in Palestine.
Furthermore, the US has tacitly allowed or even condoned Israel's unilateral blockade of the Gaza Strip, resulting in the continuous deterioration of the local economy and living conditions, ultimately leading to the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"Washington traditionally shields its ally Israel from any Security Council action." After the US recently vetoed a humanitarian aid resolution at the UN Security Council, Reuters made this comment. For nearly half a century, the US has used its position as a permanent member of the Security Council to block numerous resolutions condemning Israel.
On December 6, 2017, then US president Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and stated that the American Embassy would be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. His "new approach to conflict between Israel and the Palestinians" has further intensified tensions in the region. The fundamental cause of the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict lies in the US abandoning its mediation efforts, thwarting hopes for peace between the two sides. Throughout previous Middle East peace negotiations, the US' bias and indulgence toward Israel have undermined the Palestinians' confidence in Palestinian-Israeli peace. After the failure of then Secretary of State John Kerry's mediation attempt in 2014, the US gave up on restructuring Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Since then, neither the Trump nor Biden administration has initiated new peace dialogues.
Eroding basis for dialogue
In 2020, the "Deal of the Century" and the Arab-Israeli Abraham Accords promoted by Trump fundamentally eroded the basis for dialogue between Palestine and Israel. In the "Deal of the Century," mainly drafted by Trump's adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, the US shifted its view of the Palestine-Israel issue to an economic development problem and proposed the construction of various "industrial zones" to relocate Palestinians to the Negev Desert in exchange for economic development opportunities, compromising their demands for an independent state, territorial boundaries, clarification on the status of Jerusalem, and the right of return for refugees. The US no longer regarded the Palestinian issue as the core of the Middle Eastern problem, no longer adhered to the principle of "land for peace," and no longer considered East Jerusalem to be the future capital of the Palestinian state, which was met with Palestinian displeasure.
On issues such as Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the US also condones and tolerates Israel's occupation of Palestinian land, undermining the foundation of peace talks between Israel and Palestine. The so-called Abraham Accords limits the scope of the Palestinian capital to small towns in the suburbs of East Jerusalem and does not grant the right of return to Palestinian refugees to their previous land.
For a long time, the majority of Arab countries have adhered to the principle of "solving the Palestinian-Israeli issue first before discussing Arab-Israeli relations" in their development of relations with Israel, in order to promote lasting peace in the entire Middle Eastern region. However, the US hopes to reconstruct its Middle East alliance strategy by adjusting Israel's relations with Arab countries, especially with Gulf Arab countries, in order to strategically contain hostile countries in the region such as Iran and Syria. Therefore, against the backdrop of the unresolved Palestinian-Israeli issue, the US is eager to promote the normalization process of Arab-Israeli relations, gradually "economizing" and marginalizing the Palestinian issue.
In September 2020, the US brokered the signing of the Abraham Accords among Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel. Although this move has led to the normalization of relations between some Arab countries and Israel, it has also sparked strong anger among the Palestinian people due to further marginalization of the Palestinian issue. In recent years, as rumors of the normalization of relations between countries like Saudi Arabia and Israel driven by the US increased, feelings of being "abandoned" and "forgotten" among the Palestinian people only grew stronger, and it was only a matter of time before intense resistance against Israel erupted.
Amid the escalating crisis in the current conflict, the US has not only failed to reflect on its own Middle East policy but also continues to smear the resistance of the Palestinian people, turning a blind eye to Israel's illegal expansion into occupied territories. Following the outbreak of the current round of conflicts between Israel and Palestine, the US President, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense have visited Israel, dispatched aircraft carrier strike groups to the Middle East, provided various military supplies to Israel, and vetoed relevant resolutions by the UNSC, allowing the conflict to escalate. In resolving the Palestinian-Israeli issue, the US should shoulder its due responsibility instead of treating the conflict like a tool in domestic political power struggles, let alone using it as an opportunity to attack other countries in the region. The US should cooperate with the international community to expedite a peaceful resolution to the conflict, rather than exploiting it for personal gain.
Global fund manager Fidelity International said on Tuesday that its planned layoffs in China is part of its ongoing global reshuffle to streamline its operations, stressing its long-term commitment to the Chinese market will not change, as proven by the company's continuous expansion in China.
Fidelity International is planning to lay off 20 people at its main unit in China, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The headcount cut at Fidelity International's wholly-owned China fund unit, which currently employs 120 workers, is equivalent to around 16 percent of its total employees, said the report.
"No decision has been made and a review across all geographies and business lines is ongoing. Our long-term commitment to China market is unchanged," Fidelity International said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.
In fact, Fidelity International expanded its presence in the Chinese market over the past years, betting on opportunities brought about by China's high-level opening up.
Recently, Fidelity International announced the opening of a new Beijing office, followed by a move of adding $30 million to the registered capital of its China funds unit, taking its overall capital base to $160 million, reflecting its confidence in the prospect of the Chinese market.
In a previous interview, Helen Huang, managing director of Fidelity International's China office, told the Global Times that China is one of the company's strategic markets in the world, eying growth in such fields as pension market, cross-border capital flow and investment advisory.
As one of the first global asset management companies to enter China, Fidelity International's presence in the market has been for nearly 20 years. Since 2004, the group has set up three offices in Shanghai, Dalian in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, and Beijing, with total employees exceeding 1,900, according to data on its Chinese website.
If EU policymakers plan to register Chinese electric vehicle (EV) imports as reported, they should think twice before taking action. Customs registration will inevitably deal a heavy blow to market confidence, and bring losses that are hard to calculate for the bloc's green transformation efforts.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the European Commission (EC) plans to start customs registration of Chinese EV imports. According to the report, registration will start the day after the plan is published in the EU official journal, which is likely to be in the coming days.
If the report is true, the move can be seen as a typical trade protectionism practice as it disrupts the global trade order, and violates international rules as well as basic economic laws. It needs to be corrected in a timely manner before import registrations cause actual damage to the market and industry chains.
Last year, the EC launched an anti-subsidy investigation into imports of battery EVs from China. If the EU announces customs registration for Chinese EVs before the anti-subsidy investigation ends, it will undoubtedly undermine market confidence.
At the very least, it is too early for the EC to discuss whether to start customs registration, because its investigation has yet to be concluded. Otherwise, it will raise suspicions that EU officials and politicians, with no factual basis or the conclusion of an investigation, have adopted the presumption of guilt rather than the presumption of innocence against Chinese EV imports.
According to Reuters, customs registration means China's EVs may be hit by EU tariffs from the point when they are registered if the EU trade investigation later concludes that they are receiving "unfair subsidies." Although the report has not yet been confirmed, it is clear to everyone that if the EU takes a more aggressive stance toward China's EVs, a strong tendency of protectionism will not have a positive effect and may even escalate the conflict.
China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao in February said that China is highly concerned about the trade remedy investigation targeting Chinese EVs and other products, while also expressing strong dissatisfaction regarding the investigation, which lacks a factual basis.
Hopefully, the EU can heed China's voice so as to prevent a further escalation of the situation.
Subtle new trends have emerged recently in the EU, once an unwavering supporter of free trade. More measures have been taken to protect the EU's internal market from external competition. With the rise of trade protectionism in the EU, efforts to isolate itself from competition in the rest of the world have expanded to many fields such as EVs, photovoltaic products and wind turbines, sparking criticism from supporters of free trade. Some analysts can't help but ask: will the EU close its doors?
It is believed that the EU doesn't want to close its doors to international competitors, because the negative impact on the economy is obvious. If the EU builds a fence blocking out affordable foreign products and trying to give local companies an unreasonable competitive advantage, then an increase in the prices of final consumer goods will be transmitted to European consumers.
More importantly, EU companies will become more and more reluctant to promote technological development and innovation as a result. The European economy will lose its vitality.
We believe European policymakers have the strategic wisdom to prevent this from happening. More efforts are needed to restore market confidence. That's why we suggest that the EU should curb trade protectionism, provide a fair business environment for Chinese enterprises, and avoid registering Chinese EVs for potential additional tariffs. It is the only way the EU can maximize its own economic interests.
Chinese mainland authorities have released sweeping guidelines to support East China's Fujian Province in exploring new paths for cross-Straits integrated development, outlining a flurry of specific measures to boost economic and trade cooperation between Fujian and Taiwan region in a wide range of areas from services trade and small businesses to high-tech industrial clusters.
Many Taiwan entrepreneurs on Tuesday hailed the new measures as concrete steps to help businesses from the island to further explore and expand in the mainland, stressing the cross-Straits integrated development is an irreversible trend. Some Taiwan entrepreneurs also expressed doubt about the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) willingness and ability to develop the regional economy.
Analysts also said that the move fully demonstrated the mainland's goodwill in supporting Taiwan's regional economy and Taiwan compatriots' livelihoods, in stark contrast to the DPP authorities' secessionist rhetoric and actions, which run counter to the development interests of the region. More importantly, if the DPP authorities continue to pursue secessionist actions and jeopardize cross-Straits cooperation, the mainland will take firm actions in response, analysts noted.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said that after the mainland suspended preferential tariffs on 12 chemicals from Taiwan under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), in response to the DPP authorities' restrictions on mainland exports, the DPP has not taken any effective measures to lift those restrictions and has instead tried political manipulation.
Currently, relevant departments are studying to further suspend preferential tariffs and take other measures on fishery, machinery, auto parts, textile and other products in line with the ECFA, the MOFCOM said.
In a circular made public on Monday, the Ministry of Commerce, the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology outlined 14 measures in five economic and trade areas, including supporting Fujian's opening-up and cooperation with Taiwan, high-quality trade and integrated industrial development.
Specifically, the circular said that Fujian will explore and establish an institutional system and regulatory model that is conducive to advancing cross-Straits integrated development. Efforts will be made to attract Taiwan petrochemical, textile, machinery, cosmetics and other industry projects to Fujian, and help them explore international markets under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Cooperation, or RCEP, a regional trade agreement among 15 Asia Pacific countries includes the ASEAN members, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
According to the guidelines, measures will be taken to support micro and small businesses from Taiwan to explore the mainland market. Efforts will also be made to support Taiwan businesses' in participating in the new industrialization process and guiding them to invest in advanced manufacturing and high-tech industries. Fujian will also leverage its advantages in the digital economy, integrated circuit (IC), new energy, lithium battery, petrochemical, textile and other sectors to build a Fujian-Taiwan industrial clusters with global competitiveness. Notably, Fujian will build a cross-Straits IC industrial cooperation pilot zone.
The guidelines come after the CPC Central Committee and the State Council announced in September 2023 that Fujian will be built into a demonstration zone for the integrated development across the Taiwan Straits, in a move aimed at deepening integrated development in all fields and advancing the peaceful reunification of the country.
Coming as the DPP authorities on the island continue to hype secessionist rhetoric ahead of the election of regional leader, the concrete measures offered much-needed assurance for Taiwan businesses and boosted their confidence in future cross-Straits economic and trade cooperation despite noise from the DPP authorities and some in the West.
Boosting confidence
"This new circular will be of great boost to [Taiwan's] future exchanges and development with Fujian and will support more Taiwan businesses to invest in Fujian," Lai Cheng-i, chairman of the General Chamber of Commerce of the Taiwan island, told the Global Times on Tuesday, noting that industrial cooperation in areas such as services and semiconductors will be boosted.
Lai said that all businesses from around the world, including those from Taiwan region, seek to enter the mainland market given its massive size. "I think Taiwan's business community is looking forward to continued positive development across the Taiwan Straits. This is the general trend."
Teng Tai-Hsien, secretary general of Straits Economic & Cultural Interchange Association, also said that Fujian has offered Taiwan compatriots equal treatment in both living and investing, which is "very attractive" to Taiwan compatriots.
"I think the industrial integration and cooperation between Taiwan and Fujian will likely surpass other regions in the future, and the future prospects are promising," Teng told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Following the announcement of the establishment of Fujian as a demonstration zone for the integrated development across the Taiwan Straits, mainland authorities have taken a slew of measures to support that. In November, the Ministry of Public Security's exit and entry administration announced new entry-exit policies for Taiwan compatriots, including streamlining the application process for travel passes.
"With support from so many mainland government departments, these measures also demonstrate the mainland's unswerving efforts to promote the integrated development of cross-Straits economic and trade cooperation and its goodwill toward Taiwan compatriots," Wang Jianmin, a senior cross-Straits expert at Minnan Normal University in Fujian, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Wang said that in stark contrast to the mainland's goodwill, the DPP authorities have only been interfering, disrupting and undermining cross-Straits economic and trade cooperation, which will only squeeze the space for cross-Straits cooperation and directly harm the vital interests of Taiwan compatriots.
In addition to its secessionist words and deeds, the DPP authorities have been trying to cut cross-Straits economic and trade ties, while disregarding provisions in the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between the mainland and the island. DPP authorities have imposed restrictions on more than 2,500 mainland products. In a firm response, the mainland suspended preferential tariffs under the ECFA on a dozen chemical products from Taiwan starting on January 1.
Analysts said the mainland has made it clear that it would firmly counter the DPP's actions that undermine cross-Straits cooperation and hurt the vital interests of Taiwan compatriots, while at the same time taken favorable policies to boost cross-Straits integrated development and support Taiwan compatriots.
"I think the mainland's policies fully reflect its goodwill toward Taiwan. They are not what some in Taiwan claim to be 'trade barriers' aimed at sanctioning Taiwan," Zhang Wensheng, deputy dean of the Taiwan Research Institute at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Tuesday. "The mainland has always maintained goodwill toward Taiwan compatriots and also hopes that Taiwan compatriots would treat Fujian as their home."
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) producer BYD Co overtook US-based Tesla Inc to become the world's biggest EV maker in the fourth quarter of 2023 for the first time, according to latest data from the companies. This had added another milestone to a historical year for China's auto industry as it's poised to propel China to become the world's biggest auto exporter.
BYD's success, which also include an impressive growth rate throughout 2023 that outpaced Tesla and other EV makers, is a microcosm of the achievement in China's upgrade of its vast manufacturing industry, export sector and the domestic market - all crucial to China's high-quality development, experts said.
On Tuesday US time, Tesla said that it delivered 484,500 EVs in the final quarter of 2023, which also marked a new record for the company. However, that means BYD, which said on Monday that it had sold about 526,400 EVs during the same period, overtook Tesla to become the world's biggest EV maker in the fourth quarter of the year for the first time.
For the whole year of 2023, Tesla retained its spot as the biggest EV maker, as it delivered a total of 1.8 million EVs, larger than BYD's total sales of about 1.57 million units. Still, BYD's recorded a year-on-year sales growth rate of 73 percent for 2023, far outpacing Tesla's sales growth of 38 percent. Such sales growth rate has also led many to speculate that BYD will surpass Tesla to become the world's biggest EV maker in 2024.
This is also significant considering that BYD's market capitalization, at 573.17 billion yuan ($80.21 billion) as of Wednesday, represents only a fraction of Tesla's $778.42 billion. Over the past six months, BYD's shares dropped by 28.85 percent, while Tesla's shares fell by 11.22 percent.
Despite such a huge gap in the financial market, analysts expect that BYD is well positioned to maintain its lead in EV sales in 2024 over Tesla.
Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50, said BYD's success is due to a slew of factors, including its own technological innovation, major policy support for industrial upgrading, a complete and stable domestic supply chain - which all helped BYD to make high-quality but affordable EVs.
"Given all these factors, it is no wonder that BYD surpasses Tesla," Hu told the Global Times on Wednesday.
In a statement it sent to the Global Times, BYD noted that it has grown to be the world's biggest EV company, and since its passenger car export strategy in May 2021, it has exported to 58 countries and regions around the world.
"Going forward, BYD will continue to promote the overseas expansion of passenger cars and continue to accelerate the global expansion of new-energy passenger cars," the company said.
BYD's milestone also came as China's whole EV sector saw a bumper year in 2023. According to the latest data from the China Association of Automobile Manufactures, in the first 11 months of 2023, China's exports of new-energy vehicles jumped 83.5 percent year-on-year to 1.09 million units. Thanks to such rapid growth, China's total auto exports reached 4.41 units, up 58 percent year-on-year and outnumbering Japan's 3.99 million units during the same period.
This also represents a landmark event for China's auto industry as it becomes the world's biggest auto exporter after surpassing Japan in 2023 and Germany in 2022 - two countries that had been dominating the world's auto market for decades.
Industrial upgrading
The success of BYD as well as the whole Chinese EV sector directly reflect solid progress China has made in relentlessly pushing for industrial upgrade and high-quality development, experts said.
Cui Dongshu, secretary general of China Passenger Car Association, said BYD and other Chinese EV makers have benefited greatly from China's vast domestic market as well as the country's efforts to boost industrial transformation and upgrade.
"The biggest factor behind Chinese EV's success is the technological transformation. In addition, the Chinese market also offered a huge advantage for them to grow," Cui told the Global Times on Wednesday, noting that China's auto industry, especially the EV sector, has seen relatively better growth than other countries around the world thanks to China's policy supports.
For its success, BYD also pointed to various policies, including China's continued reform and opening-up, support for private businesses and the building of a new development model.
"Looking back, we feel more and more strongly that it was the reform and opening-up that gave birth to BYD, and it was the new development concept that created huge opportunities that strengthened BYD," the company said in the statement.
Policy support for the EV sector is just part of China's broader effort to transform and upgrade its industrial system, which has become a top priority in the pursuit of high-quality development. The Central Economic Work Conference held in December, which set priorities for economic work for 2024, listed the development of a modern industrial system led by innovation as a top priority.
Hu said that China's industrial transformation and upgrade has made great strides. "Through industrial transformation and upgrade, our international competitiveness is also strengthening and in terms of the macroeconomic situation, all three main drivers have been revitalized," he said.
One example of industrial upgrade revitalizing China's main economic drivers is the exports of EVs. Lithium batteries and solar panels became a highlight of China's exports in 2023, and they have been described as "the new three items" of China's exports sector, a drastic shift from the previous "three items" of China's exports - clothes, furniture and electronics.
In the first three quarters of 2023, total exports of "the three new items" jumped by 41.7 percent year-on-year, compared to a mere 0.6 percent in China's total exports during the period due to weak external demand.
