Exclusion of Chinese Products to Recoil on EU

Brussels will propose phasing out Chinese-made equipment from critical infrastructure in the European Union (EU), which will bar companies such as Huawei and ZTE from telecommunications networks, solar energy systems and security scanners, according to recent reports by the Financial Times and other foreign media, quoting officials.

In fact, the EU has already been taking action against Chinese sci-tech enterprises in these areas. In 2020, the "EU toolbox for 5G security" was released, suggesting that member states restrict the use of Huawei and ZTE equipment in communication networks.

In March 2024, the EU invoked the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) to investigate two Chinese enterprises participating in a local solar power generation project bidding, ultimately forcing them to withdraw. One month later, the EU conducted a "dawn raid" on Chinese security scan equipment company NUCTECH on the ground that it was receiving foreign subsidies.

The "EU toolbox for 5G security" is a set of recommendations and each EU member state will decide how to implement them based on their own circumstances. The FSR mainly investigates projects such as bids and mergers and acquisitions. Enterprises under investigation in a certain project can still participate in other projects.

However, the measure the EU is reportedly going to introduce this time is more mandatory, and "high-risk suppliers" will be completely excluded from all critical infrastructure, marking a further escalation of the EU's crackdown on Chinese sci-tech enterprises.

Once it is implemented, it will have a significant negative impact on the operations of Chinese enterprises in Europe. At the same time, the EU will also have to pay a huge price for this.

According to statistics, replacing Chinese telecommunications equipment within the EU would cost several billion euros; over 90 percent of the solar panels in the EU are produced in China.

According to a cost comparison published by the Dutch initiative Topsector Energie, the cost of manufacturing solar panels locally in the EU may be 160 percent higher than in China.

Currently, over 200 gigawatts of power generation capacity in the EU uses Chinese inverters, and 70 percent of the new solar power generation capacity added in 2023 had inverters imported from China. The price of these products is more than 20 percent lower than in the EU.

In April 2025, NUCTECH won the bid for an Italian customs procurement project. Compared with its competitors, it had a price advantage of seven million euros. From 2014 to 2024, the governments of various EU countries awarded more than 160 contracts to the company.

Chinese telecommunications and solar power generation equipment as well as security scanners have made the popularization and application of 5G communication and green energy in the EU cost-effective. They have done the same thing for the digitalization and low-carbon transformation of EU society, and even public safety.

The EU's mandatory exclusion of Chinese equipment will not only require a huge investment but will also lead to delays or even setbacks in the progress of construction of projects, endangering the development of the EU itself.

The EU's so-called Cybersecurity Act, which came into force in 2019, is using the guise of cybersecurity to erect trade barriers and suppress sci-tech. Cyber risks should be determined based on factual evidence, not the country of enterprises or the product's place of origin.

The main areas covered by this act are all industries where Chinese enterprises have significant technological advantages and Chinese products have a large market share. The mandatory exclusion measures are obviously discriminatory and targeted.

Many of the equipment proposed for exclusion under the act is being exported to the EU for many years and has proven safety in actual operation.

Some EU politicians have no evidence that Chinese equipment have safety issues. They are only engaging in fantasy, imagining that these devices might have pre-set backdoors or be used for cyber attacks and data theft.

They then use this fantasy to promote the "threat theory" emanating from Chinese equipment and define Chinese enterprises as "high-risk suppliers." This is a typical example of politicizing and instrumentalizing cybersecurity issues.

China's leading position in certain industries is the result of continuous sci-tech innovation and the advantages of its manufacturing system. No means can stop it, and no tricks can suppress it.

China's development brings opportunities to the world, not threats. The EU should not view China as an "imaginary enemy," falling into the mental trap of "persecutory delusion," and harming itself while attacking China.

What the EU really needs to do is to create a fair and friendly business environment for Chinese sci-tech enterprises, and to engage in open cooperation, which will ensure mutual benefit and win-win results.

Source: Science and Technology Daily