Thousands Rally in Bulgaria, Demanding Judicial Overhaul
Protesters walked the central boulevard in Sofia at a demonstration coordinated by the Justice for Anyone initiative, whose leaders demand the dismissal of the country's powerful acting chief prosecutor.
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
China's premier tells EU leaders 'we can't afford' massive industrial subsidies
Chinese Premier Li Qiang dismissed EU fears over Beijing's allegedly excessive subsidies to its industry, telling the bloc's leaders "we can't afford it" in markedly candid remarks during a tense summit. Speaking during a roundtable with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday, Li insisted that "China is by no means doing what some call a subsidies policy or fiscal subsidies". "China is not as rich as Europe, and we can't afford it," he said. "We would not be stupid enough to use the fiscal funds accumulated through the government and the hard work of our people to sell our products to foreign consumers," Li added. Von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa were in Beijing on Thursday for a summit dominated by tensions between the EU and China over trade and Russia's war in Ukraine. Chief among the bloc's concerns was its yawning trade deficit with China, which stood at around $360 billion last year. The EU has also raised fears that Beijing's vast subsidies to its industry could help it undercut European competitors with a flood of cheap exports to the continent. Li, China's number two official, rejected those claims in a roundtable with the EU's leadership. "Some enterprises, especially manufacturing enterprises, feel more deeply that China's manufacturing capabilities are too strong, and Chinese people are too hardworking," the Chinese premier said. "Factories run 24 hours a day," he said. "Some people think this will cause some new problems in the balance of supply and demand in world production," the Chinese premier said, admitting: "We see this problem too." Li also rejected claims the Chinese economy -- plagued by sluggish growth for years now -- was in dire straits. "Of course, there are difficulties and challenges, but it is difficult for us to say that China's economy is in a downturn," he said. "Our GDP growth rate is always above five percent," he insisted. ll-mjw-oho/je/tym
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Exclusive: Chinese electric carmaker Zeekr eyes pan-European growth despite tariffs, acting CEO says
China's electric vehicle (EV) company Zeekr is committed to a broad expansion throughout the EU despite tariffs slowing its pace, the company's top European executive has told Euronews. Lothar Schupert, the acting CEO of Zeekr Europe — which is the EV arm of Geely Holdings, one of the Chinese companies targeted by EU tariffs last year — told Euronews' Europe Today the brand was "committed" to Europe. Last October the EU slapped steep duties on China-made electric vehicles (EVs) to offset the effects of Chinese state subsidies, including tax reductions and preferential lending, which Brussels says unfairly undercut European competitors. Decrying the measure as a "naked act of protectionism", Beijing responded with probes into EU-made brandy, pork and dairy, which Brussels then denounced as unfair and unjustified. As expected, Thursday's one-day EU-China summit in Beijing failed to deliver progress on these open fronts. Talks on a potential minimum pricing arrangement in order to remove the tariffs have been underway since April. Asked whether such an arrangement would be acceptable to a company like Zeekr, Schupert simply said they were an advocate of "free trade." He explained that Zeekr had launched its car brand in Europe two years ago, beginning in the Nordic markets, before continuing in Belgium, Switzerland and several others. 'And we're in the middle of the expansion plans at the moment,' he said flagging the company's plans to grow further starting with Germany, the UK, 'and also going forward with France, Italy and Spain." 'At the moment we are preparing. So in the next twelve to twenty-four months, our plans are to be live,' he said. Schubert said 'of course we are opposing against the tariffs', adding they negatively impact consumers. 'The tariffs are hindering us moving in that speed forward since last year,' he explained. But he added that that company has 'done its homework', and is "very much convinced that our sustainable go-to-market approach is now prepared'. "So our commitment is to expand further. Our commitment is to deliver high-level premium products to our consumers in Europe. And independently from the tariffs, our expansion plans goes further." Pressed about EU concerns over the subsidies Beijing pumps into its domestic companies, he said the company had to "gain the trust of the consumers." 'And that is where our main work is on now, launching the markets, creating a brand experience and having a clear relationship to the consumers in Europe, convincing with the products and also attractive pricing and price value proposition where we can be successful.'
Bloomberg
5 hours ago
- Bloomberg
EU's Tense China Summit Yields Few Concrete Changes
Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg's daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union. We're keen to hear your views on this newsletter. Please participate in our short survey. Expectations were low going into the EU's summit with China in Beijing given that the two-day affair had already been curtailed. In the end, the first in-person meeting between the EU and Chinese leadership since 2003 made little progress in terms of concrete deliverables. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Antonio Costa pulled no punches on China's trade practices in their closing press conference, calling out Beijing's support for Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine, and reiterating their view that the trading relationship is 'critically unbalanced.' The two sides did agree on a mechanism to identify supply chain bottlenecks, committed to work on solutions on public procurement and endorsed a joint statement on climate — in one bright spot of unity. Editor's Note: Tomorrow's edition will be the last Brussels Edition before the summer break. We'll be back in your inbox on September 1st.
