Beijing, China—China said Wednesday it was “highly concerned” over a European Union probe into wind turbine suppliers, the latest move by Brussels targeting Beijing over green tech subsidies suspected of undermining fair competition.
“I think the outside world is concerned about the rising protectionist tendencies of the European Union, and China is highly concerned about the discriminatory measures taken by the European side against Chinese enterprises and even industries,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
The EU is seeking to massively ramp up renewable energy as it aims for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 while moving away from excessive reliance on cheaper Chinese technology.
The bloc’s competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, announced the inquiry into Chinese wind turbine suppliers during a speech Tuesday at Princeton University in the US state of New Jersey.
“We are investigating the conditions for the development of wind parks in Spain, Greece, France, Romania and Bulgaria,” she said.
The wind turbine probe follows earlier investigations targeting Chinese subsidies for solar panels, electric cars and trains, as trade tensions heat up with Beijing.
It was launched under new rules that came into force last year and seek to prevent foreign subsidies from undermining fair competition in the EU.
Chinese wind turbines are currently being offered in Europe at prices up to 50 percent lower than European-made ones, according to the WindEurope industry lobby.
China’s Mao lashed out at EU “protectionism”, telling journalists it “protects backwardness… and causes multiple losses”.
“We urge the European side to abide by WTO rules and market principles, and China will firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” she said.
Brussels opened its first probe under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation in February, targeting a subsidiary of Chinese rail giant CRRC. That investigation was closed after the subsidiary withdrew from a tender in Bulgaria to supply electric trains.
A second probe announced last week targets Chinese-owned solar panel manufacturers seeking to build and operate a photovoltaic park in Romania, partly financed by European funds.
Two separate consortiums are under investigation in that case, one of which includes a subsidiary of China’s Longi Green Energy Technology — the world’s biggest solar panel manufacturer.
The second is made up of two subsidiaries of China’s state-owned Shanghai Electric group.
Under a different set of rules, Brussels last September started a probe into subsidies for Chinese electric cars.