From June 20th to June 22nd, local time, at the moment of global attention shortly after the conclusion of the 2024 EU Parliament elections, Wang Huiyao, Chairman of the Center for Globalization (CCG), and Miao Lu, Secretary-General, jointly participated in the 28th European Forum held in the Wachau region of Austria.
During the event, CCG Chairman Wang Huiyao was the only guest speaker from China to attend a global expert conference on the theme of "Europe in China-US Relations" to share insights on China-EU trade and other topical issues. Panelists included Daniel Gros, Director of the European Institute for Decision Studies at Bocconi University in Germany, and David O. Shullman, Senior Director of the Global China Center at the Atlantic Society. The following is the full text of the speech:
Moderator: What is your view on the EU's recent proposal to impose temporary countervailing duties on electric vehicles imported from China?
Wang Huiyao: When it comes to trade, we need to be cautious. In response to China's exports of new energy products such as electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaics, despite accusations that China has "overcapacity", the demand for clean energy technologies and products in the world is far from reaching the so-called overcapacity, and there is a huge demand gap.
According to estimates by the International Energy Agency, in order to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, the global demand for new energy vehicles will need to reach 45 million by 2030, and the global demand for new photovoltaic capacity will reach 820 GW, about four times that of 2022. The IEA's report also said that meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement would require tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030 and increasing global green energy investment to $4.5 trillion a year in the early 2030s, up from $1.8 trillion a year in clean energy. So this is far from being an oversupply, but there is a huge demand gap.
In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum imposing high tariffs on some Chinese products, launching a trade war against China, and global trade relations entered a challenging phase. Since then, security has become particularly prominent. I don't want a trade war between China and the EU, because both sides are important economies in the world. So I think it's critical to keep global trade open and free, and we need to find better ways to address these issues. How can we respond? China, the United States and Europe really need to sit down and have a dialogue. We can find a way to communicate effectively, and tariffs are not the right way to solve the problem.
Regardless, the EU's tariffs on China are actually hurting many European companies. Half of Tesla's electric vehicles are made in China. And Chinese companies export less than 50% of electric vehicles, most of which are actually made for Western multinationals. If you want to develop the latest models and the most advanced electric vehicles today, the most cost-effective place in the world is only China, because China has the largest consumer market, all the application scenarios and all the resources needed. Completely different from twenty or thirty years ago, we are in a multipolar world, with a variety of different systems in the world, and the world cannot be seen from a binary point of view of autocracy and democracy.
From my point of view, Europe has its own unique position. It has a very long history, a wide range of cultures, and so on, which has a lot of resonance with China. I believe that the EU can play an important role between China and the United States in mediating China-US relations and promoting the improvement of relations between the two countries. I don't think the EU should fully follow the US in its China policy. The United States views China as a "strategic competitor," while the European Union calls China a "systemic rival." Actually, the EU doesn't have to say that. I mean, if Europe really sees China as an adversary, it could be a self-fulfilling prophecy that China will really be an adversary. It's bad for the world.
Therefore, I think China and the EU should work together. The EU and China can be the guardians of multilateralism, the WTO, and promote more trade. China, the European Union, and the United States can also cooperate in ensuring human security. We focus too much on national security, but people tend to overlook climate security, food security, energy security, and the issues of the Global South. Therefore, we should actively cooperate in these areas, shoulder the responsibilities of a major country, and work together for the well-being of all mankind.
My CCG participated in this year's 60th Munich Security Conference (MSC) and co-hosted an official side event with the Munich Security Conference on the theme "China, Europe, and the United States: Climate Cooperation in the Age of Great Power Politics." Discussing how developing countries can cope with climate change in the face of a lack of finance, panelists argued that China can produce solar energy at a lower cost and with greater efficiency, which is good for the world. If China can produce solar panels more cheaply, it will be a boon to the world.
The United States and Europe are able to produce Boeing and Airbus aircraft, and there is no problem of overcapacity. Ninety percent of the aircraft China buys in its domestic aviation market come from these two companies. Therefore, just because certain products are made in China, we can say that they cause overcapacity, or that this is dumping to the world. This is not true.
On the other hand, one of the panelists mentioned that Australia's relationship with China is not very good. But that was during the pandemic. Not long ago, Chinese Premier Li Qiang paid an official visit to Australia at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and had many good discussions. They are now restarting negotiations on trade in services. I think they've really put the bilateral relationship back on track.
What I see is that the world is in a precarious situation at the moment. We put too much emphasis on security. I believe that all countries need to work together to resolve a number of regional hotspot issues, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Let's work together to solve these problems, rather than treating China as the number one competitor. The United States is very concerned about security issues, and they focus on NATO, the "Five Eyes" alliance, as well as AUKUS, QUAD, and involve countries such as Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and India, which I don't think is the right thing to do and will not help solve the problem. We actually need to continue to pursue economic integration, as China is doing now. China is working to build the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to implement the world's largest infrastructure plan. China has also proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and has developed the RCEP agreement with Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and 15 members of the 10 ASEAN countries, which is the world's largest free trade agreement, and has also applied to join the CPTPP, a predecessor of the US-led agreement. China has also promoted a number of regional cooperation initiatives, such as China-Africa, China-Latin America, China-ASEAN, China-Central Asia and China-Gulf States. As a result, all countries seeking economic expansion, globalization, and prosperity have found attraction in these initiatives. This also explains why there are 30 countries lining up to join the BRICS. Two weeks ago, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey visited my office and expressed Turkey's desire to join the BRICS.
Moderator: Russia is now highly dependent on China, so why isn't China trying to prevent the Russia-Ukraine conflict?
Wang Huiyao: Actually, China is working on it. I remember two weeks after the war broke out, I published an opinion piece in the New York Times suggesting that China should step in and help. And that's exactly what China does. On February 24, 2023, on the first anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an important document, namely "China's Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis", which is considered China's version of the "peace plan". The document contains 12 main points, which not only expound China's consistent position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but also put forward feasible suggestions for promoting a handshake between the two sides. I think that's very important.
During a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China opposes the use of nuclear weapons or attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities. If Russia can't fight a nuclear war, what else is it capable of? After French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stating China's core position on promoting peace talks. So I think China is going all out. In addition, this year, Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the CPC Central Committee, held talks with Amorim, Chief Special Adviser to the President of Brazil, in Beijing, during which they had an in-depth exchange of views on the Ukraine crisis and reached a six-point important consensus. This six-point consensus is the common position of China and Pakistan, and also represents the general concern and sincere will of the majority of members of the international community to promote a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. So far, the six-point consensus between China and Pakistan has received positive responses from more than 100 countries, including Turkey, South Africa, India, etc.
Moderator: China hopes to facilitate peace negotiations in its own way.
Wang Huiyao: Yes. China, of course, wants to support peace talks. But the problem is that, like the peace negotiations we have in Switzerland, there are actually no real belligerents present. If you really want to negotiate peace, you need to involve the belligerents.
There is no doubt that China is the staunchest supporter of the principle of safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, but I do not think that China will fully stand on the side of NATO and the EU. But China can mediate and engage in dialogue with both sides, not just antagonism. I believe that China has an advantage in resolving regional conflicts, and eventually, you may see China and other countries in the Global South, such as Turkey and Brazil, becoming the main force in resolving these crises.
Moderator: We just talked about Taiwan, but if Trump becomes president of the United States again, will it have any impact on Taiwan?
Wang Huiyao: I think there is a high degree of consensus between the two parties in the United States on the China issue. There are 1,600 Chinese companies on the U.S. Entity List, while China has only a handful of U.S. companies on the list. The difference is evident. In fact, China still welcomes American companies.
On the other hand, during the Trump era, he often engaged in trade negotiations with China, more substantive negotiations. There are high-level meetings and negotiations about every few months. However, in the first two and a half years of the Biden administration, we did not see any substantive contacts, only Pelosi's visit to Taiwan and the balloon incident. It wasn't until recently at the San Francisco summit that we saw interaction between the top levels.
I really think Biden will continue to unite with his allies to encircle China. I don't think that's a good approach. But for Trump, he may be involved in trade negotiations again, and he may move forward with the second, third phase of negotiations. It would be nice if we could negotiate on a regular basis. China hopes that dialogue will lead to a real solution. After 15 years, China negotiated its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and has made great changes to that end. Now, China has implemented a visa-free policy for 12 European countries, which is a very good move. There is a lot of hype and misconceptions about China, but after visiting China in person, you will find that many rumors do not match the facts. So I very much hope that China will provide more visa-free policies. Recently, China has introduced visa-free access to Australia and New Zealand. China can also have a visa-free policy for the United States or Japan, so that the more people who visit China, the less fear there will be, the more objective the attitude, and we will have a better future, rather than just seeing one-sided views.
This article is based on the recording of the guest's speech at the 28th European Forum, which has not been reviewed by me, please indicate the source for reprinting