EU industry chief underlines EU-China rivalry

European Union's industry chief said on Monday (October 31) said that European companies and governments should realise that China is a rival to the EU. He further said that the EU should not be naive when they approach Chinese investment.

European Commissioner Thierry Breton's comments appeared to be aimed in part at Germany, whose Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Beijing on Friday.

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In order to ensure that rival political powers do not gain political leverage, the EU has take defensive measures in past few years to control investment from state-owned foreign players.

But many diplomats have been baffled by Germany's recent decision to approve the sale of a stake in Hamburg's port, the country's largest, to a Chinese company.

In an interview with Reuters, Breton said he "preferred" the decision to sell only 25% of the terminal to China's Cosco than the original proposal, which would have sold China more than a third and give it a blocking minority.

"We need to be extremely vigilant," he said.

Breton said that since the EU had labelled China a "systemic rival" in 2019, the EU had adopted a series of measures they can use to block investment in critical infrastructure.

(With inputs from agencies)

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