China’s new energy and EV sectors are ‘transforming’ global trade, no link to overcapacity claims: former commerce official

China’s high-end, green manufacturing to have ‘profound impact’ on global trade structures, 2008-2013 commerce vice-minister Jiang Yaoping says

Chinese EV industry is important contributor to world environment goals and human well-being, he tells globalisation forum in Beijing

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Allegations of overcapacity, arising from China’s generous subsidies to its hi-tech and green industries, are a contentious issue in the country’s escalating economic rivalry with Europe and the US. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:00pm, 25 May 2024Updated: 8:06pm, 25 May 2024

A former senior economic official has hailed China’s new energy sector for its “transformative” effect on world trade and the environment, while dismissing accusations of overcapacity clearance.

Jiang Yaoping, who served as China’s commerce vice-minister from 2008 to 2013, said the country’s growing manufacturing heft had shifted the centre of global trade, not only changing its traditional patterns but also significantly boosting the status of emerging markets and developing economies.

“Notably, China has become the world’s largest automotive exporter,” Jiang told the 10th annual forum of the Centre for China and Globalisation (CCG) think tank in Beijing on Saturday.

“The development of new energy vehicles in China is by no means positioned as a solution to ‘domestic overcapacity’,” he said, arguing that the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) industry represented the future direction of the global vehicle sector and was an important contributor to global environment goals and human well-being.

“China’s manufacturing is moving towards high-end, intelligent, and green development, and is upgrading the industry chain, supply chain and value chain. This will have a profound impact on the upgrading of global trade structures and the transformation of the global trade landscape,” Jiang told ambassadors and economists from around the world gathered at the forum to discuss the decline of globalisation.

Allegations of overcapacity have become a contentious issue in China’s escalating economic rivalry with the United States and Europe.