China Europe Photo: IC

An official from China's trade promotion agency on Sunday urged the EU to improve its trading environment and reduce its discriminatory policies against foreign investment, as many surveyed companies said that the EU's business climate has worsened.

The EU should recognize the positive role that foreign investment plays in its economic development and reduce discrimination against foreign companies while improving its business environment, according to the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).

Recently, the EU has been probing China's emerging industries.

In response, the CCPIT called on the EU to cease promoting discriminatory policies under the guise of "de-risking" and to strive to eliminate the negative impact of previous measures.

"We urge the EU not to abuse trade remedy measures and also urge it to deepen cooperation with foreign companies in the new-energy sector including electric vehicles to ensure a favorable environment for sustainable development," Zhao Ping, a CCPIT spokesperson, said at a press briefing on Sunday.

The competitiveness of China's new-energy companies came from innovation and risk-taking entrepreneurship, but the EU is unwilling to see this, Zhao Junjie, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of European Studies, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Zhao Junjie said that attempts by EU politicians to make China a scapegoat for its economic woes have trampled on the idea of free trade long advocated by the EU.

The CCPIT urged the EU to raise awareness of government services, effectively protect the interests of Chinese companies doing business in the EU, and ensure stable and positive EU-China economic and trade relations.

The EU's trading environment saw very limited improvement last year, with 32.84 percent of surveyed companies saying that the situation had worsened, Zhao Ping said.

Weakening confidence in the EU by Chinese companies indicated that the EU has much to do to improve and build a free and law-based market as it claimed, Zhao Junjie added.