We have noticed that relevant EU agencies carried out unannounced inspections at the Dutch and Polish premises of a company on April 23. This move attracted great attention from both business communities and the media. Although the European side did not provide details of the company name, according to the media, the EU’s inspections were targeted at the Dutch and Polish subsidiaries of a Chinese company. We express our grave concern over and deplore the said inspections.

The European side claimed that the unannounced inspections were taken on the grounds that it had indications that the inspected company may have received foreign subsidies that could distort the internal market pursuant to the Foreign Subsidies Regulation. The Chinese side takes the view that the EU’s suspicion of so-called subsidies could be completely verified and solved by ways like communications with the company or competent government authorities. In fact, since the European side launched an anti-subsidy investigation into China's electric vehicles not long ago, the two sides have already conducted in-depth exchanges at both government and business levels.

The Chinese side believes that the EU’s unannounced inspections interferes with the order of fair competition in the market, clearly jeopardizes the positive atmosphere of trade and economic cooperation between China and the EU, and strikes a strong shock to the confidence and sense of security of all foreign companies in the EU, including Chinese ones. It also highlights the further deterioration of the EU's business environment and sends an extremely negative signal to all foreign companies operating in the EU. Protectionism cannot bring prosperity, and suppressing others will only weaken competitiveness of one’s own. The Chinese side urges the EU to abide by its commitment to open market and the principles of a level playing field, and stop using all kinds of excuses to unreasonably suppress and impede the Chinese companies. The Chinese side looks forward to conduct exchanges and cooperation with the European side in an open, fair and equitable way.