{"id":14947,"date":"2026-01-20T11:45:57","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T10:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.prif.org\/?p=14947"},"modified":"2026-01-20T13:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T12:34:12","slug":"chinas-response-to-the-ev-dispute-what-it-tells-us-about-the-china-eu-rivalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.prif.org\/en\/2026\/01\/20\/chinas-response-to-the-ev-dispute-what-it-tells-us-about-the-china-eu-rivalry\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s Response to the EV Dispute: What it Tells us about the China\u2013EU Rivalry"},"content":{"rendered":"

At first glance, Europe\u2019s trade conflict over battery electric vehicles (BEVs) with China may seem to be merely an industry-specific technical dispute, but the conflict has unveiled the geo-economic contestation between two major powers. To understand how the dispute contributes to the broader strategic rivalry, this study focuses on Beijing’s response to the trade dispute by examining China\u2019s official statements. These responses provide a window into the broader international contest, revealing the underlying dynamics of China\u2019s strategic geo-economic shift against the EU.<\/strong><\/p>\n

China\u2019s BEV Emergence and Why it Matters for the Geo-Economic Rivalry<\/h2>\n

Since labelling China as a \u201csystemic rival\u201d<\/a> in 2019, Brussels has increasingly viewed China\u2019s economic influence as a security risk. Thus, to safeguard the EU\u2019s economic competitiveness and security more effectively, the EU launched a de-risking strategy in 2023<\/a>. It serves as a comprehensive strategic framework to compete with Beijing and reduce dependencies in the geo-economic sphere. At the same time, efforts such as anti-subsidy investigations and duties have been deployed as \u201cdefensive\u201d de-risking measures<\/a>. These measures are essential to counterbalance market distortions, enhance economic security, and protect industries from unfair competition.<\/p>\n

Beijing\u2019s increasing stake in the electric vehicle (EV) market threatens the resilience of the EU\u2019s EV industrial policy. Over the past decade, China has experienced dramatic growth in EV battery production under the \u201cMade in China 2025\u201d strategy<\/a>, which prioritises domestic technological innovation through heavy subsidisation of the industry<\/a>. The significant governmental support has enabled Chinese carmakers such as BYD, Nio, and Xpeng to expand their BEV sales in Europe. Notably, BYD\u2019s EV sales in August<\/a> in the EU market increased by over 200% year-on-year compared to 2024, despite remaining a minority (1.3%) of the market. In view of the rapid growth, the European Commission initiated anti-subsidy investigations<\/a> on 4th<\/sup> October 2023 into Chinese BEVs benefiting from unfair subsidies, which could potentially damage the European EV industry. A year later, on 30th<\/sup> October 2024, the EU imposed anti-subsidy duties<\/a> on BEVs imported from China, concluding that \u201cthe BEV value chain in China benefits from unfair government subsidies that are causing a threat of economic injury to EU BEV producers\u201d. Following the announcement, China initiated anti-dumping investigations<\/a> into the EU\u2019s imports of brandy, pork, and dairy products, and later imposed extra duties on these products, which were considered China\u2019s counter-response to the EU\u2019s restrictions on BEVs. Meanwhile, negotiations over the dispute between the two sides are still ongoing and are reportedly entering the final stage<\/a> in July 2025.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s Strategic Shift in Diplomacy<\/h2>\n

In response to the increasing hostility abroad, China adopted new diplomatic strategies aimed at protecting its global and domestic interests. On the one hand, China perceives Brussels as a key multilateral partner, actively promoting its economic and technological achievements within the EU through official discourse<\/a>. This strategy aims to improve China\u2019s public perception in the EU as a major power, with a focus on strengthening trade ties with China in Beijing\u2019s discourse<\/a>. At the same time, following Xi\u2019s realist emphasis on the \u201cfighting spirit\u201d<\/a>, the need to defend China\u2019s core interests against Western narratives has become strategically significant. Therefore, this dual strategic approach aims to position China as a global leader and to counter Western criticisms of Beijing\u2019s growing influence. Such an approach is also applied in its discourses on the de-risking strategy and the EV dispute, where China is demonstrating its commitment to the global economy. Therefore, it is crucial for understanding how the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and MOFA respond to the BEV dispute, as their responses portray Brussels\u2019 actions in the BEV dispute as politically motivated while presenting China as a responsible power defending the stability of global trade.<\/p>\n

How China Responded to the BEV Dispute<\/h2>\n

China\u2019s diplomatic strategy emphasises the strict separation between economic and political issues, where the former Chinese Ambassador to the EU, Fu Cong<\/a>, claimed that \u201cwhen you are in business, let’s talk about business. Let’s keep politics out of this\u201d. In response to the EU\u2019s anti-dumping duties, MOFCOM portrayed Brussels as an unfair and irrational global competitor. The ministry criticised the investigation into Chinese EVs as \u201cunfair and illegitimate\u201d. They accused Brussels\u2019 practice<\/a> of having \u201cviolated the WTO rules and disrupted the normal international trade order\u201d. During Brussels\u2019s investigation, MOFCOM claimed that \u201cChinese enterprises have been subjected to intimidation and coercive pressure, threatened with punitive high tariffs, and required to provide excessively broad information\u201d. Thus, to demonstrate its proactiveness in resolving conflicts through dialogue, the ministry listed Beijing\u2019s past efforts in communicating with Brussels. For example, Beijing and Brussels have already \u201cheld over ten technical consultations<\/a> at the directorate-general level and two consultations at the vice-ministerial level concerning the anti-subsidy case involving EVs\u201d. During the process, Brussels is accused of being passive by the MOFCOM and having \u201csimultaneously and hastily rejected China’s proposals<\/a> without offering any concrete counterproposals at all\u201d, which \u201cdemonstrates a complete lack of sincerity in meeting each other halfway\u201d. As a result, the EU\u2019s anti-dumping duty on EVs, as part of its de-risking strategy, is described as protectionist and irrational. In the end, Beijing argued that \u201cshould consultations ultimately fail to reach consensus, the responsibility lies squarely with the European side<\/a>\u201d. Therefore, Beijing is attempting to represent Brussels as a selfish major power and itself as a responsible state that is willing to communicate.<\/p>\n

Despite these efforts, it is crucial not to overlook China\u2019s countermeasures against Brussels for imposing anti-dumping duties towards various EU-importing products. In this case, Ursula von der Leyen has already criticised China for saying one thing and doing another<\/a>. Instead of admitting to engaging in retaliation, MOFA attempted to explain these actions by invoking global norms. For instance, they claimed that the measures against European brandy<\/a> were \u201clegitimate trade remedy actions initiated in accordance with domestic industry applications and conducted through lawful investigations, fully compliant with WTO rules\u201d. To protect its free-trading image, Beijing utilises global norms and regulations to justify its actions aimed at safeguarding core interests, despite taking similar actions to those of the EU.<\/p>\n

What Beijing\u2019s Diplomacy Tells us about Geo-Economic Rivalry<\/h2>\n

The trade dispute has provided Beijing with opportunities to strengthen its global influence, which it uses to demonstrate its adherence to global norms and international regulations to resolve conflicts, while attempting to delegitimise the long-standing leading position of the Western bloc in the world order. Such a strategy has, in fact, demonstrated the \u201cfighting spirit\u201d that Xi advocates, aiming to \u201cfight for international discourse\u201d (\u722d\u53d6\u570b\u969b\u8a71\u8a9e\u6b0a)<\/a> to defend China\u2019s economic interests as its core interests following China\u2019s systemic securitisation of its economic and technology sectors<\/a>. Meanwhile, China claimed that Brussels was spreading false information to \u201cbrainwash\u201d and mislead the European public, thereby forming an irrational and ideologically oriented foreign decision-making process that ultimately harms the global economy. Therefore, China\u2019s responses are able to balance Xi\u2019s multilateral and realist ideals, on the one hand, shaping itself as a responsible global power that is rational and contributes to the world; on the other hand, defending the interests of China\u2019s domestic BEV industry.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Europe remains strategically important for China, serving as a crucial component in supporting China\u2019s ideal world order. Contrary to the hostility towards the US, which threatened that the country is ready for a trade war<\/a>, Beijing still urged Brussels to resolve conflicts through dialogue, even as economic ties deteriorate. Such contrast can be explained by a kind of mutual understanding, where Beijing recognises the EU\u2019s vulnerability due to economic dependence, and Brussels recognises this as well and adopts a more moderate approach (i.e., de-risking)<\/a> compared to Washington. Therefore, the dispute no longer concerns a narrow technical issue but instead illustrates Beijing greater willingness to compromise with Brussels in the geo-economic rivalry, so that the economic ties can be preserved despite Brussels’ push for de-risking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At first glance, Europe\u2019s trade conflict over battery electric vehicles (BEVs) with China may seem to be merely an industry-specific technical dispute, but the conflict has unveiled the geo-economic contestation between two major powers. To understand how the dispute contributes to the broader strategic rivalry, this study focuses on Beijing’s response to the trade dispute by examining China\u2019s official statements. These responses provide a window into the broader international contest, revealing the underlying dynamics of China\u2019s strategic geo-economic shift against the EU.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":435,"featured_media":14942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1125,1095],"tags":[1077,1140,1483,1222],"coauthors":[1484],"class_list":["post-14947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-en","category-regime-competition-in-a-fragmented-world","tag-china-en","tag-europe","tag-konkurrenz-en","tag-regime-competition"],"acf":[],"views":310,"yoast_head":"\nChina\u2019s Response to the EV Dispute: What it Tells us about the China\u2013EU Rivalry - PRIF BLOG<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To understand how Europe\u2019s trade conflict over battery electric vehicles (BEVs) with China contributes to the broader strategic rivalry, this study focuses on Beijing's response to the trade dispute.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.prif.org\/en\/2026\/01\/20\/chinas-response-to-the-ev-dispute-what-it-tells-us-about-the-china-eu-rivalry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"China\u2019s Response to the EV Dispute: What it Tells us about the China\u2013EU Rivalry - 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