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Experts and academics have voiced their disapproval against the European Union’s move of introducing import restrictions on China’s green energy products and technologies.
In a recent interview with South China Morning Post, Michael Spence, Nobel laureate in economics, remarking on China’s leadership in solar, electric vehicle (EV) and battery technology, argued that Western countries’ decision to block China’s exports of these key elements of the energy transition is a mistake.
“The cost of that is very high in terms of the sustainability agenda,” he warned.
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-08-13/EU-limiting-China-s-green-technology-imports-a-mistake-experts-1w1XyppvGg0/img/db6472964b284f4386590cc7f1fdbee4/db6472964b284f4386590cc7f1fdbee4.jpeg' alt='Electric vehicles waiting to be exported at a dock in Jiangsu Province, China, July 19, 2024. /CFP'
A Financial Times article pointed to the brewing concerns in Europe that the region could miss its carbon emissions targets without Chinese technology.
Simone Tagliapietra, a senior fellow at the think tank Bruegel, said that if the EU follows a relocation agenda, with import substitution and domestic production targets, it risks slowing down the energy transition in Europe.
Because doing so would elevate the cost, remarked Tagliapietra, as quoted by the article.
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-08-13/EU-limiting-China-s-green-technology-imports-a-mistake-experts-1w1XyppvGg0/img/fc1925301afc454aa3622db83b2d35b6/fc1925301afc454aa3622db83b2d35b6.png' alt='A wind farm in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, August 4, 2024. /CFP '
Jonathan Cole, chief executive of global wind developer Corio Generation, echoed the view.
He observed that excluding Chinese companies from the global supply chain would “significantly hamper” the EU’s ability to meet its de-carbonization targets.
The European tariffs on Chinese cars is like a “glancing blow thrown by a fading heavyweight fighter,” wrote Michael Dunne, founder of global intelligence and advisory firm Dunne Insights, in a newsletter.
He said that the imposition of tariffs will not stop China’s advancement in the field.
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-08-13/EU-limiting-China-s-green-technology-imports-a-mistake-experts-1w1XyppvGg0/img/a835a52fa28e4614b8a1122f8f8e7238/a835a52fa28e4614b8a1122f8f8e7238.png' alt='A photovoltaic power plant in Guizhou Province, China, August 4, 2024. /CFP'
In recent years, the EU has launched multiple probes against Chinese imports, targeting green energy products including solar panels, EVs, and wind turbines.
Last Friday, China filed an appeal with the World Trade Organization, challenging the EU’s imposition of additional tariffs on imports of Chinese EVs.
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