EU-China Summit: Beijing Rejects Accusations of Massive Subsidies
Beijing – China “does not practice in any way what some call a subsidy policy or tax subsidies,” said Prime Minister Li Qiang during a roundtable with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday.
He made these remarks in Beijing as part of a China-EU summit, which was expected to be particularly tense due to deep-seated points of contention – from Ukraine to trade.
Brussels particularly wanted to express its concern over state-party subsidies from China to the industry that could distort competition in the European market.
“China is not as rich as Europe, and we cannot afford it,” Mr. Li Qiang retorted on Thursday.
“We would not be foolish enough to use the public funds accumulated by the government and the hard work of our people to sell our products to foreign consumers,” he added.
Last year, the EU’s trade deficit with China reached about 360 billion dollars. (July 25, 2025)
