Chinese commerce minister: 'excessive industrial capacity' narrative reflects 'excessive anxiety'

China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said Europe's anti-subsidy investigation into China's electric vehicles (EVs) on the grounds of "excessive industrial capacity" is typical trade protectionism. Furthermore, China hopes the two sides will address each other's concerns through dialogue and communication.

Noting that Europe's claim of excessive industrial capacity was misplaced, Wang said that it was not industrial production capacity that was excessive, but anxiety. He also noted that the accusation of market distortion against China was a result of a "distorted mentality."

According to the Ministry of Commerce, Wang made the remarks on Monday during the 29th meeting of the China-Spain Joint Economic and Industrial Cooperation Committee held in Madrid, which he co-chaired with Spanish Minister for Economy, Commerce and Business Carlos Cuerpo.

During the meeting, the two sides exchanged in-depth views on matters including the promotion of high-quality development in bilateral economic and trade relations, the EU's anti-subsidy investigation of Chinese EVs, facilitating bilateral personnel exchanges, government procurement, and market access for agricultural and food products.

Wang said China will work with Spain to enhance the level of trade between the two countries, promote two-way investments, strengthen cooperation among small- and medium-sized enterprises and third-party market cooperation, and expand areas of cooperation for win-win results.

He expressed the hope that Spain will play a positive role in persuading the EU to remain rational and open in the field of green and new-energy industry.

Cuerpo said Spain attaches great importance to its economic and trade relations with China, and is willing to continue to deepen the strategic partnership between the two countries, maintain dialogue and cooperation with China, promote the balanced development of economic and trade cooperation, and promote the exploration of more cooperation opportunities by enterprises from the two countries in areas such as automobiles, renewable energy, industrial machine tools and medical equipment.