BEIJING (Reuters) -China hopes the European Union would make fewer accusations, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday in a retort to EU criticism that European firms had limited access to the Chinese market.
Setting the tone for an expected China-EU summit in Beijing in late July, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier this week said China had flooded global markets with its overcapacity, limited access to its market, and de-facto enabled Russia’s war economy.
China hopes the EU would “make fewer accusations and communicate more, be less protectionist, and be more open,” He Yongqian, a spokeswoman for the Chinese commerce ministry, said at a regular press conference.
China hopes the EU would view their economic and trade relationship “without emotion and prejudice”, He said.
In an address to the European Parliament on Tuesday, Von der Leyen praised China for expanding its economy by more than 10 times over 50 years, lifting 800 million of its people out of poverty, and transforming itself into an industrial giant and clean tech leaders.
“But our relations with China must be rooted in a clear-eyed assessment of this new reality,” she said.
Von der Leyen said China had “unique instruments at its disposal” that allowed it to flood global markets with subsidised overcapacity not just to boost its own industries, but to choke international competition.
She also said China’s “unyielding” support for Russia had created heightened instability and insecurity here in Europe, becoming a de-facto enabler of Russia’s economy as the war between Moscow and Kyiv persisted.
Her criticism of China followed a visit to Brussels by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who told the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas that he hoped the EU would develop a more objective and rational understanding of China and adopt a more positive and practical policy toward China.
(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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