He Yadong: Friends from the press, good afternoon, welcome to the regular press conference of the Ministry of Commerce. I have no information to brief you on today. Please raise your questions.

The floor is open.

Shenzhen TV: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently visited China. How does the Ministry of Commerce evaluate the outcomes of this visit? Is China-US economic and trade relations likely to remain stable for a while?

He Yadong: Relevant Chinese authorities have already released information on Treasury Secretary Yellen's visit to China.

We hope that the US will work with China to implement the important consensus reached during the meetings and phone calls between the two presidents, continue to strengthen communication and cooperation in the economic and trade field, create a good environment for the trade and investment activities of businesses of the two countries, and advance China-US economic and trade relations. Thank you.

Reuters: I have two questions. The first question is that the European Union will investigate the subsidies received by Chinese wind turbine suppliers shipping products to Europe. What is the comment the Ministry of Commerce? How will this affect relevant industries in China? The second question is that we have noticed a rebound in Chinese investment globally and in Africa. In Africa, investments are concentrated in the extractive industry, while there has been a decline in infrastructure projects financed by loans from China. Can you explain why? Can we interpret it as the latest investment model?

He Yadong: On your first question, China has noted that the European Commission recently announced that it will launch a subsidy investigation into Chinese wind turbine suppliers in accordance with the Foreign Subsidies Regulation. The head of the Trade Remedy Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce of China made representations with the head of the European Commission’s trade remedy department in Brussels yesterday. China believes that what the EU has done clearly violates the principle of free trade and seriously disrupts normal industrial cooperation between China and the EU. It is typical protectionism that will hinder the global climate change response and the green transformation, undermine the confidence of foreign companies in investing in the EU and weaken mutual trust between China and the EU. China expresses its dissatisfaction and opposition in the strongest term.

China's wind power and other new energy companies have achieved rapid development thanks to sustained technological innovation, comprehensive production and supply chain system and full market competition. This is how they won a competitive edge and a leading position in the world. No amount of subsidies can deliver such success. China's new energy industry is committed to providing quality products for the global response to climate change, and has made positive contributions to the green transformation of countries around the world, including the EU. The EU must not advocating climate change response and green cooperation on the one hand, while at the same time using trade protectionism to impose excessive restrictions on normal international green trade and investment. This is double standards in tackling climate change. What the EU is doing will disrupt global green transformation, China-EU investment cooperation, and mutual trust in trade and economic cooperation.

As the green industry booms around the world, there will be broad space for China-EU cooperation. China hopes that the EU will refrain from protectionist practices, return to the right track of win-win cooperation, and take concrete actions to provide a stable, fair, transparent and predictable environment for competition and green cooperation between Chinese and EU enterprises. China will pay close attention to the next moves of the EU, and reserves the right to take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese companies.

On your second question, in recent years, China's investment cooperation with Africa has grown steadily and healthily, with annual direct investment in manufacturing of over USD400 million and infrastructure cooperation worth over USD37 billion, which have contributed to Africa's industrialization and economic diversification. In 2023, China's direct investment in Africa continued to grow, covering construction materials, automobiles, home appliances, agricultural products processing and other fields. China has built a number of landmark projects and "small but beautiful" infrastructure projects in Africa, from transportation, energy, electricity, to housing and people's livelihood. Thees projects have greatly improved local economic development and people's livelihood.

China-Africa economic and trade cooperation has yielded fruitful results in a wide range of areas, featuring strong complementarity and great unlocked potential. China encourages Chinese enterprises to expand economic and trade cooperation with Africa with a market-oriented and commercial approach, and to create new investment cooperation models in the digital economy, green development and integration of investment, construction and operation. Thank you.

Bloomberg: The United States has added six Chinese companies to its entity list. What’s MOFCOM response?

He Yadong: China has noted the recent developments. For some time, the US has continued to add Chinese companies to its entity list on the grounds of so-called involvement with Russia and the military. The US has generalized the concept of national security, abused export control measures, and arbitrarily imposed unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction on Chinese companies. This is a typical act of economic coercion, unilateralism, and bullying. China is strongly opposed to such moves.

The US must immediately correct its wrong actions and stop its groundless attack on Chinese companies. China will take any measure necessary to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies. Thank you.

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