US media: Worried about China's countermeasures, EU launches' new tools'

Bloomberg reported on the 11th, citing sources familiar with the matter, that the European Union is considering a new mechanism called the "solidarity tool" to provide financial support to European companies, "helping them reduce their dependence on China in critical supply chains and buffering the impact of possible countermeasures by China in the event of a trade conflict.

The report claims that the above-mentioned tools are one of the measures taken by the EU to address its trade deficit with China. But insiders say that the implementation cost is high and requires a significant investment of funds. However, the EU has not yet determined the required funding scale, as the final investment will depend on the possible countermeasures from China. According to informed sources, the EU has informed its member states' representatives to the EU about the progress this week, but a spokesperson for the European Commission declined to comment on this.

On June 29th, China and Europe officially established the China Europe Trade and Investment Consultation Mechanism and held their first ministerial meeting to engage in comprehensive, in-depth, and constructive discussions on important economic and trade issues. At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Commerce on July 2nd, spokesperson He Yadong introduced the issue of China Europe economic and trade balance, stating that at the first meeting under the consultation mechanism, the two sides had focused on discussing the promotion of trade "upward balance" from emerging areas, potential areas, and problem areas. China is fully implementing the 15th Five Year Plan, promoting the construction of a strong trading nation, and actively promoting balanced development of imports and exports. China is willing to help EU enterprises explore the Chinese market and expand exports to China through platforms such as "Export to China" and the China International Import Expo.

On the 12th, Zhou Wei, a researcher at the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, stated in an interview with Global Times that the China EU trade and investment consultation mechanism covers four working areas, with "trade and investment balance" listed as the top priority, indicating that China has not avoided the concerns of the European Union during the consultations. The European side should note that continuously setting barriers to market access to exclude Chinese companies, as well as imposing restrictions on high-tech exports to China, have led to issues of economic and trade balance between the two sides. On this issue, the European side should work together with the Chinese side to reduce restrictions on China and solve the problem properly together.

Zhou Wei stated that both sides have agreed in the joint statement to continue negotiations under the trade and investment balance work section, with the aim of making progress on specific issues. Based on this, the European side should not concoct new tools and create new trade frictions, which would be detrimental to the overall economic and trade relations between China and Europe.