China 'very disappointed' with Europe's planned investment restrictions, diplomat says

MADRID — Beijing is "very disappointed" with plans in Europe to restrict investment from China, Chinese diplomat Qu Xun told a conference in Madrid on Wednesday (May 13), warning that such measures would push China to "close its door" to Europe.

In unusually candid public remarks for a Chinese official, Qu, the commercial representative at China's embassy in Spain, said the "controls, limitations, and sanctions by Europe towards China in the past three months make us very disappointed".

"Such measures push us into corners, to react and close the door. It changes the Chinese mentality," he said, speaking on a panel at an event at Madrid's IESE Business School, adding that China had always viewed Europe as a region with an "open mind".

The European Parliament is in the early stages of passing legislation setting strict rules over European Union control and ownership of manufacturing in critical industries and limiting "high-risk" suppliers in cybersecurity, upsetting China.

Beijing has pushed for key provisions on origin, procurement and technology requirements in the new manufacturing rules to be removed, and for definitions of "high risk" in the cybersecurity rules to be watered down.

Europe's push for greater independence comes as China and the US attempt to patch up trade ties, with President Donald Trump landing in Beijing earlier on Wednesday, accompanied by an entourage of CEOs seeking to resolve business issues with China.

European and US CEOs have long criticised rising exports from subsidised Chinese firms as unfair, and have called for greater market access in China, where certain sectors are restricted to foreign investors.

"We know European companies have a lot of complaints about difficult market access in China. This is true. The world is cruel," Qu said. 

"We need to get used to the business environment of each country ... but we need to respect the rules."

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