TMTPost -- The European Union may open another investigation into Chinese products right after the probe into electric vehicles (EVs).

Credit：Xinhua News Agency

EU may announce launch of an investigation into China’s procurement of medical devices as soon as this week and could lead to the bloc curtailing Chinese access to its tenders, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The probe will initially focus on information-gathering from companies and member states before authorities start talks with the Chinese government on fair and open markets, according to the report.

If the investigation materialized, it would be the second inquiry EU launched in two weeks. The European Commission is launching a new inquiry into Chinese suppliers of wind turbines as it is concerned certain manufacturers may benefit from unfair subsidies, Margrethe Vestager, the executive vice-president of the EU executive, announced last Tuesday. “We are investigating the conditions for the development of wind parks in Spain, in Greece, in France, in Romania and in Bulgaria.” Vestagerthe said during a lecture at Princeton University in the U.S. The EU’s anti-trust commissioner claimed China had attracted foreign investment, acquired technology and granted “massive subsidies” to domestic suppliers before exporting cheaply, resulting in less than 3% of solar panels installed in Europe are produced locally. “We can’t afford to see what happened on solar panels, happening again on electric vehicles, wind or essential chips,” she said.

The head of the Trade Remedies Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce of China (MOFCOM) has lodged stern representations against EU’s investigation and its report about severe distortions in China's economy, , according to the ministry’s statement last Wednesday. The EU’s probe into Chinese wind turbine suppliers in five EU member states under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) on April 9 is the fourth investigation that EU initiated under FSR against Chinese companies in nearly two months, official at MOFCOM pointed out in the statement. China believes Chinese new energy-related firms are obvious targets of all the recent inquires launched by EU so far, the official said. The official warned that EU’s move will not just dampen confidence of Chinese enterprises in investments and trade cooperation in EU, interfere with mutual beneficial industrial cooperation between China and Europe, and impede global efforts to address climate change and the process of green transformation.

The Chinese commerce official accused EU of wanton distorting the definition of subsidies, and conducting inquires without open or transparent procedural standards, which is a protectionist act that harms the level playing field in the name of fair competition. China expresses strong dissatisfaction with the EU move and firmly opposes that, urging EU to cease the wrong doing and make correction immediately, the official said.

China is highly concerned over the EU’s discriminatory actions against Chinese companies and even the entire industries, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded to EU’s probe last Wednesday. “We hope the EU will not keep stressing the importance of fighting climate change on the one hand and yet damage the global efforts to deal with the issue on the other,” Mao said. “Protectionism does not solve one’s own problems. Protectionism only protects backwardness. It costs the future and results in lose-lose. “ The spokesperson said China urges the EU to observe WTO rules and market principles and vows to firmly protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies.