EU Report Criticizes Chinese Industrial Policy, Tech Transfer, Echoing US Concerns

The European Union and China need to “develop a more balanced and reciprocal economic relationship” in light of China’s “proactive and state-driven industrial and economic policies,” the European Commission said in a report on the EU-China strategic outlook, dated March 12. Echoing recent U.S. criticism of China, the report calls out China’s favoring of its own domestic champions, including when enforcing intellectual property rights and other domestic laws, as well as investment restrictions and forced technology transfer. A more balanced relationship “can be achieved through various means: by working together with China in international fora to upgrade the rules and by making decisive progress in bilateral negotiations, but also by making use of tools such as the recently modernised and strengthened trade defence instruments,” the report said.