FM urges EU to provide fair business environment for Chinese firms

China on Wednesday urged the EU to honor its commitment to openness, and provide an open, transparent, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises after reports that the EU plans to impose a flat fee of 2 euros ($2.27) on small packages entering the bloc, mainly from China, as the trade commissioner of the European Commission claimed that the parcels represent a new challenge to its control and safety.

When asked to comment on the EU's plan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press conference on Wednesday that China believes that an open and inclusive environment for international trade serves the interest of all.

"We hope the EU will honor its commitment to openness, provide an open, transparent and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese businesses, and create favorable conditions for China-EU economic and trade cooperation," Mao said.

The EU plans to levy a flat fee of 2 euros ($2.27) on billions of small packages entering the bloc, mainly from China, according to a Financial Times report on Tuesday.

Trade commissioner Maro ef ovi told the European parliament he had proposed the handling fee on Tuesday to offset the costs associated with the 4.6 billion items annually imported directly to people's homes, claiming the huge flood of parcels represents a completely new challenge, according to the report.

The EC draft proposal, seen by the Financial Times, says the 2 euros fee would apply to purchases sent to consumers, but that items sent to warehouses would be taxed at 0.50 euros.

"It goes against common international practice if the EU levies tariffs or fees on low-value packages because it will increase customs costs and add burden on low-income groups, and as a result, set barriers for cross-border trade and harm the development of the industry," Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

It's worth noting that the US recently just reduced tariffs on small parcels from China from 120 percent to 54 percent, according to a White House statement. "The joint statement on the China-US Economic and Trade Meeting in Geneva has injected some relief to world economy and global supply chains. At the moment, if the EU steps up pressure on small parcels from China, it will risk adding more pressure on world economy," Zhou said.

Moreover, it would be unreasonable for the bloc to adopt such measures, which may cause more extensive impact to global supply chains and incur supply chain tension. It does no good to the EU's economies, including their efforts to reduce inflation pressure, Zhou said.

In addition, Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said G7 countries - US, Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Canada and Japan - have started discussing tariffs on oversupplied, low-value Chinese products, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

In a news conference on Tuesday opening a meeting of G7 finance chiefs in Banff, Champagne said the agenda will include talks on how the countries can coordinate their actions and tackle issues around overcapacity and non-market practices.

In a separate report, Bloomberg said Tuesday that Japan is mulling a review of tax exemptions for small parcels including those shipped from China, claiming "concerns about fair competition and the channel being a conduit for illegal drugs and counterfeit goods into the country."

CNBC reported that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has sought to push G7 allies to more effectively confront China's state-led, export-driven economic policies, arguing that this has led to excess manufacturing capacity that is flooding the world with cheap goods and threatening G7 and other market economies.

"While certain G7 economies may claim that they take the action to protect their domestic industries, they may also engage in the topic against China likely under tariff pressure from the US," Zhang Monan, deputy director of the Institute of American and European Studies at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges in Beijing, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

In early April, the US government announced "reciprocal tariffs" on its trade partners, including Canada, the EU and Japan.

The G7's reported coordinated move against low-value Chinese goods, along with the US' intensified crackdown on Chinese chips, shows the US' attempt to continue to exert pressure on China, Bao Jianyun, dean and professor of the Department of International Politics, School of International studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

But G7 countries will unlikely reach consensus on trade measures against China in a short period because of their internal conflicts, including the US "reciprocal tariffs" on its allies, Bao said.

Moreover, there are common interests between China and many Western countries including European countries, and thus there is room for negotiation in trade issues, said Bao, noting that there is great potential for mutually beneficial China-EU economic and trade cooperation if the EU can abandon its ideological prejudice and reject disruption from any third parties.

Chinese investment in Europe rose for the first time in seven years in 2024, with Chinese foreign direct investment in the EU and UK climbed 47 percent to 10 billion euros last year, according to data from the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies and consultancy Rhodium Group, Financial Times reported on Wednesday.