As POLITICO's China Watcher exclusively reported, on Tuesday the EU's competition chief Margrethe Vestager announced new anti-subsidy plans for China's fast-growing and increasingly dominant wind turbine sector. We plan to begin a financial investigation.
Europe was once a leader in renewable energy sources, but China's rapid development since 2018 has cost major wind power companies, including Denmark's Vestas and German-owned Siemens Gamesa, billions of dollars in losses. , has been forced to make significant cost cuts.
The EU wants to avoid the mistakes made over the past decade, when Chinese solar panel makers nearly crushed their European competitors. Today's strategy on wind turbines is certainly “all too familiar” for European policymakers, said one EU diplomat, who was granted anonymity to discuss the impending policy announcement.
Years of inaction on the EU's domestic industrial policy, coupled with a policy of openness to green technologies, has led to an influx of Chinese-made solar panels into the EU market despite concerns about materials being sourced from the western province of Xinjiang, where the United Nations is based. is inviting. exposed human rights violations against the Uyghur community.
Next up are electric cars. Undeterred by the European Commission's ongoing investigation into the state subsidies behind these Chinese-made EVs, Chinese Trade Minister Wang Wentao on Monday told Chinese EV executives on a visit to Paris that reassured that the benefits were worthwhile.
“The rapid development of China's EV enterprises relies on continuous technological innovation, comprehensive industrial and supply chains, and full market competition, rather than the competitive advantage of subsidies,” Wang said. This was stated at a meeting with EV executives.
