What is the intention of the EU to investigate Chinese car companies

Recently, European media reported that three investigators from the European Commission will investigate three Chinese car manufacturers, BYD, Geely, and SAIC, and will only investigate these three companies. They will not visit other car brands such as Tesla and Renault. In October last year, the European Commission announced a countervailing investigation into Chinese pure electric vehicles, which was part of the EU's countervailing investigation. The anti subsidy investigation will focus on two aspects: first, whether enterprises producing electric vehicles in China and exporting electric vehicles to the European Union have received subsidies from the Chinese government; The second is whether importing subsidized electric vehicles originating from China into the European Union may cause harm to the economic health of manufacturers of electric vehicles in the EU.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China's automobile exports reached 4.91 million units last year, surpassing Japan and becoming the world's largest automobile exporting country. However, five years ago, China's automobile exports were only 1/4 of Japan's. The rapid rise of China has caught Europe, America, and Japan off guard, with many describing the Chinese automotive industry as a "meteorite shower". Against the backdrop of rapid development of Chinese automobiles, Chinese automakers are rapidly expanding into the European market. At present, the market share of electric vehicles produced in China in EU countries has increased to 8%. The three Chinese companies surveyed by the European Commission are representative, and these companies are also rapidly expanding their market in the EU. BYD has also announced the construction of a new energy passenger vehicle production base in Hungary.

Why is the EU so nervous when Chinese cars only have an 8% market share in the EU electric vehicle market? On the contrary, Tesla in the United States holds the largest share, and the United States has also introduced the Inflation Reduction Act to increase subsidies for domestic electric vehicles. The United States openly engages in discriminatory subsidy policies, with France, Germany, and others accusing the United States of undermining a fair competition environment and expressing retaliation against US trade protectionism. But more than a year has passed, and the United States has ignored the European Union and its allies in Japan and South Korea, still openly engaging in discriminatory subsidies. Now the EU is targeting Chinese car companies and launching a countervailing investigation against China. In fact, they have many of their own support policies, but they are relatively covert. China can also counterattack in the same way, and their investigation is likely to be in vain.

It is not right for the EU to attribute the decline in competitiveness of local car companies to Chinese companies. What they should reflect on the most is how to improve efficiency and reduce costs, rather than constantly thinking about how to defeat competitors. Good quality and affordable products have a market everywhere, and the EU's investigation and suppression will only have the opposite effect.

This EU anti subsidy investigation was initiated by France and the President of the European Commission, von der Leyen, who had long exposed that he was working for the interests of the United States. So, its ultimate goal and the mastermind behind it are obvious. At this sensitive moment in China Europe relations, the anti subsidy investigation against China is a matter that both sides need to handle with caution.