A dispute between the EU and China over the procurement of medical devices took a new turn today (24 June), as the Chinese commerce ministry stated that “necessary steps” will be taken against Europe.
The threat comes after the EU set out plans to restrict Chinese participation in its procurement processes for medical devices towards the end of last week.
EU restriction
In a notice from the European Commission (EC) announcing the restrictions, EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič said that, while the EU remains “committed to dialogue with China to resolve these issues”, the “aim with these measures is to level the playing field for EU businesses”.
The EC argues that European businesses have been systematically disadvantaged by China’s barriers to its market. It also argues that China has imposed “significant and recurring legal and administrative barriers to its procurement market”.
According to the commission, 87% of public procurement contracts for medical devices in China are “subject to exclusionary and discriminatory measures and practices against EU-made medical devices and EU suppliers”.
The new curbs “exclude Chinese companies from EU government purchases of medical devices exceeding €5m”, the bloc explained.
China retaliation
Reuters reports that the Chinese commerce ministry has stated it will work to “resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises”, hinting at retaliation for the move.
The ministry said:
“The European side has persisted in using unilateral tools to build new protectionist barriers, which not only harms the interests of Chinese enterprises, but also seriously undermines fair competition.”
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign affairs representative, said at a press conference yesterday (23 June) that, though China “is one of the largest trading partners” of the EU and “we have a few issues like climate change where we cooperate”, it was still the case that “every relationship requires a dose of realism”.
“China enables Russia's war. It carries out cyber-attacks. It interferes with our democracies and uses coercive trade practices. These aspects strain our relationship and make it increasingly hard to continue as before.”
As the Daily Update reported last week, the EU recently cancelled plans a high-level trade talks with China, intended as a precursor to a still-scheduled July summit, over its range of ongoing disputes with the Asian nation.
Next month’s summit is scheduled for 24–25 July, though EU trade official Maria Martin-Prat said that there’s “a huge amount of work that needs to be done between now and the summit” on “issues which we have been discussing with them for a long time”.
