EU's separate EV price commitment talks with Chinese firms will harm mutual trust: official

Mutual trust between the European Union and China will be undermined if the European side conducts separate price commitment talks with certain Chinese firms while engaging in general negotiations with China concerning electric vehicles (EVs), a spokesperson with China's commerce ministry said Monday.

This will also disrupt the overall negotiation process and add more administrative costs to follow-up implementation and supervision of price commitment agreements, the spokesperson stated.

During a talk held via video link on Oct. 25 between Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and European Commission Executive Vice President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, China made it clear that the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products had been fully authorized by different types of Chinese enterprises to put forward a price commitment plan that represents the overall position of the industry.

"On this basis, China and the EU have conducted several rounds of consultations with a lot of efforts made and some progress achieved," the spokesperson said.

China hopes that the two sides will build on previous consultations and accelerate the negotiation process, so as to secure substantive breakthroughs as soon as possible, the spokesperson added.