BEIJING: European Union firms continue to rely on China despite the effects of export restrictions imposed by Beijing, the EU Chamber of Commerce head warned on Tuesday (April 14).
Chamber president Jens Eskelund said that European companies were becoming "ever more dependent" on China.
"Last year, we had twice as many companies increasing their onshoring in China rather than increasing their offshoring away from China," he said.
This year's survey of firms by the chamber, which represents more than 1,600 companies from EU member states, showed the trend continuing, he said.
"So for all the talk, we don't really see anything indicating that Europe is getting less dependent on China."
Eskelund warned it was hard to form a complete picture of how deeply companies relied on China.
"I think no one really has a complete picture of how deep these dependencies run and to what extent that if these were to be weaponized, the kind of harm that it could inflict on trading partners," he said.
"I don't think anyone really knows if Europe would be able to make toothpaste without China."
European companies had been "caught in the crossfire" of tit-for-tat tariffs between the US and China, the chamber said.
Beijing had also imposed export restrictions on rare earths amid the trade dispute.
"China's export control regime has developed into a powerful means of controlling the global availability of strategic goods," the chamber warned.
Export controls remained an important tool for preventing the proliferation of weapons, but had increasingly been repurposed as strategic trade measures, it said.
"The EU must now respond to this challenge to ensure its economic security."
China is the world's leading producer of rare earths, which are highly sought-after in industry as well as in the high-tech and defence sectors. - dpa
