Arriving in China to make a high-profile gesture of goodwill, this French minister of electric vehicles | Le Mer | France
On July 31st, the website of the French newspaper "Le Figaro" published a report titled "From Beijing to Shenzhen, Bruno Le Maire Showcases Goodwill to Chinese Investors".
According to reports, during his visit to China, French Minister of Economy, Finance, Industry, and Digital Sovereignty Le Maire plans to meet with the head of electric vehicle company BYD in Shenzhen. The purpose is to persuade Tesla China to believe that France has a "significant competitive advantage". At present, BYD is planning to establish factories in Europe and hopes to start manufacturing vehicles of this brand in Europe by 2025. In addition to France, Germany and Spain are also considering it.
The report also stated that during his four-day visit to China, Le Maire wanted the interlocutors to firmly believe that "France welcomes you" and emphasized "especially in the areas of electric vehicles, batteries, and energy transformation.".
Le Maire's visit to China this time continues the schedule of high-level visits between the two sides: first, French President Macron's visit to China in April, and then Chinese Premier Li Qiang's visit to France in June. Le Maier also participated in the high-level economic and financial dialogue between China and France this time.
The report suggests that Paris hopes to expand its field through China as a partner. At the same time, Washington is trying to decouple, and Germany is also seeking to reduce its dependence on China.
Le Mer said, "We completely oppose the idea of 'decoupling', which is a fantasy." However, he is not naive and advocates for 'reducing risk' and 'being more independent on the value chain' in order to retain Europe's strategic autonomy. In addition, he also hopes to "rebalance" bilateral trade relations.
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who met with Le Mer, expressed his expectation that France can provide Chinese enterprises with a more just, fair, and non discriminatory business environment.
The report further states that the relationship between the two sides may be reflected through electric vehicles. At the same time, the unstoppable infiltration of Chinese products has raised concerns in some EU countries, with their market share reaching about 9% in 2022.
For the European market, BYD has its own aspirations and has launched multiple models there.
What angers Le Maier is that a portion of the subsidies for clean energy vehicles are allocated to vehicles produced in China, which have high manufacturing carbon emissions and transportation costs.
This has led to a carbon credits mechanism, and the French government has recently consulted on the reform of environmental subsidies for purchasing clean energy vehicles. Macron explained in May that "we should encourage the production of batteries and electric vehicles in Europe because European companies have a good carbon footprint record."
"This measure is not specifically aimed at any particular country. We encourage Chinese electric vehicle brands to invest in France so that they can be closer to consumers, and this is also to make their production chains more decarbonized," Le Maier said in an interview with Chinese media
While deciding to appease the French automotive industry, Le Maire also advocated in Beijing that China and France "work together to find the answer to the greatest challenge of the century.".