The spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce answered questions from reporters regarding the revised draft of the EU Cybersecurity Law

Q: We have noticed that the Ministry of Commerce has recently submitted comments to the European Commission on the revised draft of the EU Cybersecurity Law. Can you introduce the relevant situation?

Answer: On April 17th, the Ministry of Commerce officially submitted its comments on the revised draft of the EU Cybersecurity Law to the European Commission, expressing China's serious concerns and formal position.

The Chinese side believes that the draft, under the guise of cybersecurity and supply chain security, introduces highly subjective and arbitrary "non-technical risk" factors, especially by identifying "countries of concern for cybersecurity" and "high-risk suppliers" in the draft, and excluding the countries and suppliers listed in 18 industries such as energy, transportation, and ICT from the entire supply chain of the European Union. This is a typical practice of politicizing and pan securing economic and trade issues.

In the comments submitted to the European side, the Chinese side believes that there are multiple issues with the content of the draft: firstly, it is suspected of violating the basic principles of the World Trade Organization, such as most favored nation treatment and national treatment, which not only violates the rules of the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the General Agreement on Trade in Services, the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, but also violates the EU's service trade concession commitments. The second is suspected of exceeding the EU legal authorization and eroding the exclusive authority of member states to manage national security affairs. Thirdly, it will cause substantial damage to the economic and trade relations between China and Europe, have a serious impact on the global supply chain, and will also drag down the EU's own digital and green transformation process.

In the comments, the Chinese side suggested that the European side delete the provisions on "countries of concern for cybersecurity" and "non-technical risks" in the draft, and delete or substantially modify the criteria for identifying "high-risk suppliers" and related restrictive measures. We hope that the European side will attach great importance to and seriously consider the comments and revision suggestions submitted by the Chinese side, strictly abide by the rules of the World Trade Organization, avoid adopting discriminatory restrictive measures, and maintain the stability and smoothness of the China Europe and global supply chains.

The Chinese side will closely monitor the progress of the draft revision and is willing to engage in dialogue and communication with the European side on this matter. If the European side insists on enacting laws based on this and discriminates against Chinese companies, the Chinese side will have to take corresponding countermeasures. I hope the European side will not underestimate China's firm determination to safeguard national interests and the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises, and to prevent the regression of China EU economic and trade relations.