The European Union must close its doors to countries, especially China, that take advantage of the bloc’s lack of domestic industrial protection, says a senior EU commissioner.
Commissioner for Industrial Strategy, Stéphane Séjourné, has proposed anti-subsidy probes and tariffs as part of future legislation designed to boost the EU’s industrial power and security.
“Europe must never become an assembly line for Chinese technologies,” he told business federations at the Trilateral Business Forum in Rome today.
Chinese investments in Europe are often structured so that the main decisions and most of the added value remain in China.
“For too long, Europe has left its doors open to third countries, often without protection or reciprocity,” Séjourné told the forum.
“That time must end, given the global context.”
The EC says China’s economic stance has shifted over time, becoming increasingly “unbalanced”.
“Our economic relationship is critically unbalanced, due to a significant asymmetry in our respective market openings,” the body states on its Trade and Economic Security website.
After the last European Union–China summit, the Jacques Delors Centre wrote that Brussels’ tougher line on China stems from “genuine concerns”.
China’s long-standing industrial policies have created large production surpluses that threaten key sectors in Europe — from clean technology to advanced manufacturing, the centre said.
Yet while trade flows have drawn much attention, one area has been less discussed: Foreign direct investment (FDI).
Chinese FDI in the EU is no longer mostly about buying existing companies. Today, most of it goes into building new factories and businesses from scratch, the EC says.
Although still below the peak 10 years ago, Chinese FDI in Europe rose to €10 billion in 2024 — a 47 per cent increase from the previous year — with much of it in the electric-vehicle supply chain, including batteries.
By comparison, the US attracted less than €2 billion, showing a clear difference in approach: Washington has largely shut its doors to Chinese investment, while the EU’s remain open.
Since the early 2020s, the “China factor” has evolved into what some call a “China shock 2.0”.
When the Chinese Government announced its “Made in China 2025” strategy in 2018, it signalled significant changes ahead.
Many European policymakers and politicians initially underestimated the implications, economists say.
The discussion in Brussels will focus on how far the new rules will go, which industries will be covered and whether the regulation will carry real requirements, or be mostly symbolic.
