'If Chinese industry is a shark, then it is currently taking big bites out of European industry,' said one trade specialist
China’s trade surplus has become a burning concern for EU leaders and will be high on the agenda at the Council summit, starting on Thursday. But although the rhetoric is being turned up, a cohesive strategy to combat the gaping imbalance looks unlikely.
“The issue is no longer whether China poses a systemic challenge – EU leaders now broadly accept that – but whether Europe is prepared to act at the scale and speed required,” one analyst told Euractiv.
Manfred Weber, leader of the Parliament’s largest political group, the centre-right EPP, said Europe’s trade deficit with China amounted to “€1 billion a day, or €360 billion a year”.
Compounding the problem, the US has largely blocked Chinese exports, diverting an even greater volume towards Europe. The result has raised alarm among businesses, which are unable to compete in an oversaturated market. “If Chinese industry is a shark, then it is currently taking big bites out of European industry,” said another researcher.
