The EU was China’s second largest trading partner in the first five months of this year, with a total trade volume of 2.2 trillion yuan, according to the General Administration of Customs. Of this, China exported 1.45 trillion yuan to the EU and imported 756.58 billion yuan from the EU, resulting in a trade surplus of 690.81 billion yuan with the EU.
In addition to steel, aluminium, electricity, cement and fertiliser, the European Parliament wants the tariff to cover organic chemicals, plastics, hydrogen and ammonia, as well as indirect emissions (those from outsourced electricity), as previously proposed by the European Commission.
With the steady progress of China’s “dual carbon” work and the potential impact of carbon tariff policies, all industries will develop towards low carbon. For enterprises, only by optimizing production process, developing low-carbon technology, improving energy efficiency and enhancing carbon management ability can they maintain international competitiveness in foreign trade.
At the national policy level, it is necessary to accelerate the realization of energy transformation, accelerate the upgrading of steel, cement and other industries, promote the progress of decarbonization, zero carbon and negative emissions technology and industrial emission reduction transformation, and improve the carbon market and carbon pricing mechanism as soon as possible. At the same time, China will continue to carry out bilateral and multilateral coordination, maintain strategic resolve to participate in and lead international cooperation on climate change, formulate near, medium and long-term climate targets and paths based on national conditions, and make timely plans.
