EU Bans Chinese Inverters, Lists China as High-Risk Nation; Beijing Rejects Classification

Central News Agency (Taipei, May 7) -- EU officials announced on the 4th that inverters from China and other ''high-risk countries'' are banned from all EU public-funded projects. China''s Ministry of Commerce responded today, stating that the EU''s first-time classification of China as a ''high-risk country'' is a stigmatization of China, which will affect mutual trust between China and Europe and undermine bilateral economic and trade cooperation. China firmly rejects and opposes this. According to Agence France-Presse, in recent years, the EU''s concerns about China''s dominance in green technology have deepened, fearing that the EU''s reliance on Chinese supply could become an increasing vulnerability. EU authorities announced that EU funds will be prohibited from flowing to Chinese-made inverters. Inverters, known as the ''brain'' of solar systems, help connect renewable energy to the grid. China''s Ministry of Commerce website issued a ''Reporter''s Q&A'' press release on the evening of the 7th. A spokesperson for China''s Ministry of Commerce stated that the EU, without any actual evidence, for the first time classified China as a so-called ''high-risk country'' and used this as a reason to prohibit financial support for projects using Chinese inverters. This is a stigmatization of China and constitutes unfair and discriminatory treatment of Chinese products. China firmly rejects and opposes this. The spokesperson also stated that the EU''s classification of China as a ''high-risk country'' will affect mutual trust between China and Europe, undermine bilateral economic and trade cooperation, be detrimental to the stability of the China-EU and even global industrial and supply chains, and even bring the risk of ''decoupling and breaking chains.'' The EU''s forced measures to exclude Chinese products violate market rules and fair principles, not only harming the interests of Chinese enterprises but also backfiring on itself, affecting the EU''s green transition and energy security. Finally, the spokesperson urged the EU to immediately stop the stigmatization of listing China as a ''high-risk country'' and cancel the unfair and discriminatory practices against Chinese products. China will closely monitor and carefully assess the impact of EU policies on the interests of Chinese enterprises and the China-EU industrial and supply chains, and will take measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises. The English South China Morning Post reported that the EU has taken its most direct measure to date to exclude Chinese clean energy hardware from public funding programs, prohibiting all EU-funded projects from using Chinese inverters. EU Commission spokesperson Siobhan McGarry said on the 4th: ''We have decided to take immediate concrete action... This includes developing guidelines to restrict EU funds for projects involving high-risk supplier inverters.'' An EU official stated that Brussels has listed four countries—China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran—as ''high-risk countries,'' but only China dominates the European inverter market, controlling 80% of the global inverter supply. (Editors: Yang Shengru / Tang Peijun) 1150507 Choose to stand with facts, every sponsorship you make is a force to protect press freedom. Download the Central News Agency ''First-hand News'' APP to get the latest news instantly. The text, images, and videos on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, or publicly transmitted and used without authorization.