China ‘gravely concerned’ over EU raids on security equipment company

Diplomatic mission condemns raids on Dutch and Polish offices of Chinese company Nuctech.

China has expressed “grave concern” over raids carried out by European officials on a Chinese company that manufactures security equipment.

EU competition regulators on Tuesday raided offices of Chinese company Nuctech in the Netherlands and Poland as part of a probe into unfair state subsidies.

In a statement on Thursday, China’s mission to the EU said it deplored the “unannounced inspections” and criticised Brussels for not raising its concerns with the company or Chinese authorities directly.

“The Chinese side believes that the EU’s unannounced inspections interferes with the order of fair competition in the market, clearly jeopardises the positive atmosphere of trade and economic cooperation between China and the EU, and strikes a strong shock to the confidence and sense of security of all foreign companies in the EU, including Chinese ones,” the mission said.

“It also highlights the further deterioration of the EU’s business environment and sends an extremely negative signal to all foreign companies operating in the EU. Protectionism cannot bring prosperity, and suppressing others will only weaken competitiveness of one’s own.”