Protectionism undermines China-EU cooperation

As the global wave of green transition accelerates, major-power competition is increasingly intertwined with the green economy race.

The European Union, once a pioneer and leader in the global green transition, is now facing growing concerns over its technological and industrial competitiveness, and remains highly vigilant about China's position in global green industrial chains. In response, the EU has recently rolled out a series of protectionist measures targeting China across multiple fronts, including green industries, technologies and regulatory frameworks. This has intensified China-EU green economic and trade frictions, reducing the space for bilateral green cooperation and adding further uncertainties to the global green transition process.

The EU's green economic and trade protectionism is mainly manifested in the following three aspects.

First, it intensifies the use of trade defense instruments against China. The EU has frequently launched antidumping, antisubsidy and other trade remedy investigations targeting China in green industries, and imposed high tariffs on Chinese clean technology products, such as battery electric vehicles and biodiesel. These measures directly raise the import costs of Chinese products through tariff barriers, erode their price advantage and shield EU-made products from the pressure of so-called "unfair competition".

Second, it imposes discriminatory market access restrictions on China. Under its Foreign Subsidies Regulation, the EU has launched multiple investigations into Chinese companies' participation in renewable energy projects, such as solar and wind power. The EU has also rolled out the Critical Raw Materials Act, the Net-Zero Industry Act, and a proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, which introduce access restrictions in public procurement, tenders and auctions, and fiscal subsidies in green industries, including local content requirements and caps on the share of imports from a single third country. Moreover, the EU is revising its Foreign Direct Investment Screening Regulation to tighten scrutiny, and plans to impose additional requirements on Chinese investment in sectors such as batteries and electric vehicles. Through these measures, the EU aims to drive up compliance costs and market access barriers for Chinese companies operating and investing in Europe, thereby erecting a "protective shield" for its own industries.

Third, it builds green regulatory barriers and exclusionary alliances targeting China. The EU is leveraging tools such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism to promote its internal sustainability rules globally, advancing its green "Brussels effect". Under the CBAM Implementing Regulation, the EU has set notably higher default carbon emission values for products from countries including China, creating a de facto green regulatory barrier. Moreover, the EU is building supply chain alliances within multilateral frameworks such as the G7, engaging in exclusionary cooperation with its Western allies on sustainable rules in areas such as critical minerals. This further reinforces the alliance-based and politicized nature of its green protectionism.

For a long time, green has been the defining color of China-EU cooperation. The two sides enjoy strong complementary advantages in the green transition, with vast potential for cooperation. Backed by a comprehensive industrial system, China has developed globally leading green production capacity. In recent years, it has also leveraged the rapid growth of new business models and formats to achieve "curve overtaking" in certain areas. The EU, with its significant influence over its internal market as well as its early-mover advantages in carbon trading mechanisms and sustainable regulation, has established a strategic leadership position in global climate action. China and the EU are both major pillars of the global multilateral climate governance system and jointly support a rules-based international framework for climate cooperation. This solid foundation of cooperation underpins the steady advancement of the global green transition.

However, the EU's recent protectionist measures have significantly disrupted both China's exports of clean technology products to the EU and its green industrial investment there. Data from Eurostat show that following the EU's launch of antisubsidy investigations into China's BEVs, China's BEV export value to the EU experienced consecutive declines in 2024 and 2025. Some Chinese companies were forced to withdraw from a tender for a solar photovoltaic park project in Romania due to the EU's FSR investigations.

Should the EU continue to escalate its green economic and trade protectionist measures, Chinese companies operating and investing in Europe will face rising compliance costs, as well as multiple risks such as the loss of core technologies, project cancellations and damage to assets. This will severely dampen the willingness of Chinese companies to enter the European market, casting a shadow over what should be a promising future for China-EU green cooperation.

Moreover, should the EU's measures inflict substantive damage on the core interests of Chinese companies, Beijing will be compelled to take countermeasures. China has already established a legal framework to safeguard national interests through deterrence and blocking mechanisms, based on legislation such as the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law and the rules on countering foreign states' unlawful extraterritorial jurisdiction measures. Once the EU's green protectionist measures lead to a sustained escalation of confrontation between the two sides, China will implement countermeasures in accordance with these laws. China-EU economic and trade cooperation would risk falling into a "lose-lose" scenario, and the global green transition process would also suffer severe disruptions.

Protectionism is unlikely to address the competitiveness challenges facing the EU. The core issues of its declining competitiveness lie in deep-seated structural challenges, including its fragile energy system, high labor costs, rigid and cumbersome regulatory frameworks, and difficulties in coordination among member states. Protectionism may only provide short-term relief for the EU's green industries, but does nothing to address the underlying structural issues. Nor can it reverse the long-term trend of the EU's declining competitiveness.

Ramping up green economic and trade barriers may fend off competitive pressure from China, but it also undermines the EU's endogenous momentum for reform. The EU's increasingly closed internal market is hindering its ability to learn from and absorb cutting-edge technologies, thereby constraining potential pathways for industrial catch-up. Meanwhile, the continuous escalation of protectionist measures is unlikely to stimulate innovation among EU companies, trapping the EU in a vicious cycle where more protection leads to falling further behind.

At present, the EU's capability for climate action has significantly lagged behind its policy ambitions, while the ongoing geopolitical conflict in the Middle East is triggering a new round of energy crises. Should the EU insist on blocking Chinese products and companies from entering its market, the cost of its green transition will inevitably climb further, adding even more difficulties to an already sluggish transition process.

China-EU green cooperation is a rational choice that serves the interests of both sides, and more importantly, a shared responsibility in addressing global challenges and safeguarding the multilateral international system. Protectionism will ultimately undermine the foundation of China-EU green cooperation and backfire on the EU's competitiveness and its green transition prospects. The EU should adopt a more open mindset and a longer-term perspective in viewing China-EU green economic and trade relations, properly handle frictions and differences through dialogue and consultation and achieve mutual benefit and win-win outcomes through pragmatic cooperation. Only by working together can China and the EU inject greater momentum and certainty into the global green transition process.

The writer is an assistant research fellow at the Institute of European Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in Beijing.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.