The European Union must seek fair economic relations with China, whose dependence could be used to pressure the EU, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
"Some Chinese companies receive subsidies up to eight times higher than comparable firms in OECD countries. Imports from China to the EU have grown by 45% over five years, while our exports to China are declining. Our trade deficit with China has now reached nearly €1 billion per day. At the beginning of this year, it increased by another 10%. This year, for the first time, all member states have a trade deficit with China," the EC chief said on Thursday in Paris at the annual conference "Meeting of French Entrepreneurs 2026."
She noted that China is a key economic partner for the EU, and the bloc is taking a clear and consistent approach: de-risking without severing ties with Beijing. But this cannot mean tolerating persistent imbalances.
"By some estimates, more than half of European industrial production now faces competition from China. And this is not just a matter of price. China controls key links in our supply chains. Our dependence on China exceeds 80% for many critical raw materials and 90% for some rare earth metals. We have seen that this dependence can be used as leverage against us," von der Leyen continued.
Dialogue with China remains necessary, she said, but it must deliver results, so the EU must ensure fair conditions. And when dialogue is insufficient, it must fully use the appropriate tools.
According to the EC chief, in the past year alone, the EU has launched more than 30 new trade defense investigations. This is almost three times the historical average. She estimated that the measures taken by the European Commission already protect more than 600,000 European jobs. And Brussels is significantly accelerating its investigations.
"We must also protect the resources on which our economic security depends: critical raw materials, batteries, semiconductors, cloud computing, data, and sensitive technologies. Our market remains open. But openness requires security, fairness, and reciprocity," the Commission president concluded.
