European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that she intended to talk to visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping about China’s responsibility for the de-industrialization with the European Union. She argued: “China is currently manufacturing, with massive subsidies, more than it is selling due to its own weak domestic demand. This is leading to an oversupply of Chinese subsidized goods, such as EVs (electric vehicles) and steel, that is leading to unfair trade. Europe cannot accept such market-distorting practices that could lead to de-industrialization in Europe.”
This translates, in normal English, to saying that China, a country that plans on manufacturing enough finished goods to export, is doing so; and the EU countries, led by Germany, have undercut support for industry—notably by turning their back on inexpensive Russian gas.
Since the EU has no problem de-industrializing on its own, it’s not clear whether von der Leyen has found new religion and is now defending industrialization, or the more likely alternative, that the EU will continue deindustrializing and, as the pain on their population rises, China is to be blamed.
