China voices concern over new EU measures for screening foreign investment

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Europe

China expects the European Commission to steer away from protectionism when establishing new measures related to screening foreign investment, Lu Kang, China Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson said in a regular press conference on Monday.

He urged the European Union (EU) to strictly obey WTO rules, especially the non-discrimination principle which states that countries cannot discriminate between their trading partners.

Trade and investment liberalization and facilitation (TILF) is key to optimizing resources distribution and European countries have always called on and benefitted from TILF, he said.

An open world economy will benefit most countries, while closing off will not help long-term development, Lu said, noting protectionism will do more harm than good.

Lu made the remarks when asked for China’s comments on EU President Jean-Claude Juncker’s proposal of the establishment of a new EU framework for screening foreign investment. The proposal is a response to calls from Germany, France and Italy for vetting takeovers in the bloc’s sensitive sectors.

If a foreign, state-owned company wanted to purchase the bloc's sensitive assets such as part of energy infrastructure or a defense technology firm, "this should only happen in transparency, with scrutiny and debate," Juncker said in his “State of the Union” speech to the European Parliament on September 13, but did not provide details for the new EU framework.

(With inputs from Xinhua)