May 25, 2026

As the visit of German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche to China is around the corner, some EU members pressed for tougher trade measures to defend European industry due to the so-called "rise of unfair trade practices" amid exports from China, the Financial Times (FT) claimed in a report on Sunday. Such a move has exposed certain EU countries' twisted views on trade with China, as they simultaneously advocate toughness while playing victim, a Chinese expert said on Monday, warning it would damage bilateral trade.

The FT report said Spain, France, Italy and the Netherlands circulated a joint paper with Lithuania ahead of a key European Commission meeting on Friday on how to handle China. The paper claimed that some of the EU's main trading partners are "imposing new trade barriers or contributing to systemic and structural industrial overcapacity," without mentioning specific countries by name. However, the FT report noted that EU commissioners regularly accuse China of exporting overcapacity and claimed that trade defense measures are at the highest level in almost 20 years.

Accusing "certain main trading partners" of creating overcapacity or trade barriers is a classic victimhood narrative that evades the EU's own responsibility for declining industrial development, Jian Junbo, director of the Center for China-Europe Relations at Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Monday.

Read more:

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202605/1361882.shtml