Workers assemble new-energy vehicles (NEVs) at a plant in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality to fill overseas orders on September 21, 2023. Photo: VCG

The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said on Wednesday that it firmly opposes the EU's move to launch an anti-subsidy probe into Chinese electric vehicles, noting that the decision is groundless and violates WTO rules.

In China, the subsidy granted to new energy vehicles (NEVs) was completely phased out as of the end of 2022. In order to maintain fair competition, provinces across China have been required to stop subsidies to NEVs starting from 2018, and subsequently, national subsidies were phased out in an orderly fashion, the association said in a statement seen on its website.

Rather than based on sufficient facts, the European Commission's decision is based on only subjective assumption of so-called "economic threat" to the EU's electrical car industry, the CPCA said.

"The EU's move has demonstrated blatant double standard. Its nature is to hinder and curb China's technological rise which violates the WTO's principle of fairness," it noted. The EU should take an objective view on the development of China's electric vehicle (EV) industry, the association said, urging the bloc to stop unilateral trade tools that designed to hinder China's EV enterprises' development in Europe or increase their operation costs.

The association also said that it firmly opposes the EU's assessment of the achievement of China's NEV export. It stresses that the remarkable achievements across China's NEV sector are not due to national subsidies but are based on the competitive advantage of the country's industrial chains. 

As part of the EU's probe into China's NEV subsidies, BMW AG reportedly has received a request for information from the EU about its iX3 sport utility vehicle, which it exports from its Chinese production facilities.
BMW refrained from commenting on the topic, but stressed in a statement sent to the Global Times that "We rely on free-trade-based, economic cooperation worldwide. This strategic course has proved successful and we want to continue on this path."

On the back of the advantage of scale of China's NEV industry and global green transition, more Chinese NEV brands are going global and their worldwide recognition continues to increase. According to data released by the CPCA, China's export of NEV passenger vehicles surged by 107 percent year-on-year to reach 91,000 in September, or up 16 percent month-on-month.

Global Times