Commerce ministry: China and EU reach multiple consensus outcomes on auto trade

China said Monday that recent economic and trade consultations with the European Union have yielded positive outcomes, including several decisions on hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles.

China and the EU reached multiple consensus outcomes that are conducive to maintaining a stable and balanced key trading partnership between the two, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said. Both sides have maintained ongoing dialogue under a trade and investment consultation mechanism.

On hybrid vehicles, both sides agreed on three basic principles, the spokesperson said. The first was "respecting facts": Both sides reached an arrangement providing for upward growth with 2025 as baseline data, ensuring Chinese enterprises' export space and stable growth and accommodating the reasonable, reality-based concerns of industries on both sides. 

Second was "non-discrimination": No measures will specifically target Chinese products, nor will they discriminate against Chinese enterprises. The quota granted to the Chinese side will not be lower than that for any other source of EU imports. 

The third principle agreed on was "compliance." Both sides confirmed that the trade arrangement should conform to World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, with China reserving all rights, including resorting to dispute settlement and requesting trade compensation under the WTO framework. 

"These three basic principles have been applied throughout and constitute a solid foundation for safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises," said the spokesperson.

Meanwhile, on electric vehicles, the spokesperson said that China and the EU have achieved a "soft landing" in the anti-subsidy case in January this year, with the EU issuing general guidance on price undertakings. Accordingly, the EU side will continue to advance the procedures related to price undertakings by enterprises in the electric vehicle case and other review procedures.

"These consensus outcomes effectively safeguard the concrete interests of Chinese enterprises, prevent the escalation of China-EU trade frictions and provide both sides with a stable, predictable and sustainable trade and investment environment," said the spokesperson, saying that these mutually beneficial outcomes contribute to the stable, balanced and healthy development of bilateral economic and trade relations.

(Cover via VCG)