China, EU reaffirms will to resolve EV differences

China and the European Union reaffirmed their political will to resolve differences through dialogue over the EU's anti-subsidy case involving Chinese electric vehicles, said the Ministry of Commerce on Friday.

During his video meeting with Valdis Dombrovskis, executive vice-president of the European Commission and European commissioner for trade, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said that various sectors in both China and the EU strongly advocate for a proper resolution of this case and have high expectations for it, said the Ministry of Commerce in an online statement.

Since September 20, China and the EU have engaged in intensive consultations on a price commitment plan. Despite some positive progress through joint efforts, significant differences remain on issues of core concern to industries on both sides.

Wang said China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its businesses and hopes that both sides will continue the consultations based on previous achievements to reach a substantive breakthrough soon.

The European side put forward specific suggestions for the price commitment plan and proposed that the two sides' technical teams hold video consultations on the matter. China agreed to immediately initiate the next phase of consultations and welcomed the EU team to visit China as soon as possible, according to the statement.

The two sides also exchanged views on China's trade remedy investigations into certain EU products, including brandy, pork and dairy products.

The Chinese side emphasized that these cases were initiated in response to applications from China's domestic industries, in line with the World Trade Organization rules and Chinese laws. China will continue to conduct investigations in accordance with the law and fully safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of all parties, said the statement.