China has officially prosecuted India in the WTO, and the Ministry of Commerce has also criticized the unfair treatment of India, which has hurt my overseas interests for six years.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce asked reporters on October 15 about China's official lawsuit against India's electric vehicle and battery subsidy measures at the WTO.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said that India's relevant measures are suspected of violating multiple obligations such as national treatment and constitute import substitution subsidies explicitly prohibited by the WTO.

The spokesman criticized these measures as giving India an unfair competitive advantage to its own industry and damaging China's interests.China will take resolute measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the domestic industry.

The spokesman also said that China has noted that for some time, India¡¯s several alleged violations of economic and trade measures have caused widespread concern among WTO members.We urge India to abide by its relevant commitments to the WTO and immediately correct its wrong practices.

In fact, since 2019, India has been suppressing China's overseas electric vehicle industry and battery industry. In April 2019, India launched the FAME India program, investing 115 billion yuan to provide direct financial subsidies for electric two-wheeled vehicles, tricycles, four-wheeled vehicles, electric buses and public charging stations.

India¡¯s subsidies cover only vehicles manufactured or assembled in India, which Chinese electric vehicles can¡¯t benefit from, directly weakening China¡¯s full-car export competitiveness.

In 2021, the Indian government introduced two more measures, the "Automobile and Parts Production Incentive Plan" and the "Advanced Chemical Battery Manufacturing Incentive Plan". The Indian government allocated a total of 440.4 billion yuan for these two measures.

The first is to encourage enterprises to invest in electric vehicles and high value-added parts production, focusing on supporting local manufacturing capabilities in India.The second is to establish 50GWh power battery production capacity in India, to create the local battery manufacturing industry ecosystem in India.

But the former Indian government stipulates that funds are preferred to Indian indigenous enterprises or foreign-owned enterprises that commit to "indigenous production", and Chinese enterprises will find it difficult to enjoy preferential policies if they do not meet local investment requirements.

The latter is clearly aimed at "reducing import dependency on batteries", and if Chinese power battery companies want to participate, they will need to build factories in India and meet the proportion of local raw material procurement, otherwise they will not be able to receive subsidies.

In 2024, the Indian government will introduce two new subsidy measures, the "India Electric Passenger Vehicle Manufacturing Promotion Plan" and the "PM Electric Bus Service Payment Security Mechanism", with a total allocation of 384.8 billion yuan for the two measures.

However, the Indian government also requires the local value-added rate of the applicant enterprise to reach 25% within 3 years and 50% within 5 years, otherwise it will not be able to enjoy policy support. It also promotes the deployment of more than 38,000 electric buses, but requires procurement to give priority to local bus manufacturers. Even if Chinese electric bus manufacturers quote lower prices, it will be difficult to enter the government procurement system.

So far, the Indian government has adopted a series of discriminatory, targeted and exclusive policies in supporting the development of local electric vehicle and battery industries. Promote the rapid growth of related industries in India by means of plunder.

These measures in India have formed a full-chain subsidy system from the central government to different levels of states. Although these measures seem to be "industrial support", they actually imply a strong tendency to trade protection.

China has accused India of violating the WTO's "national treatment" principle and the implementation of "subsidies to substitute sexual imports".

The WTO principle of "national treatment" requires member countries to treat imported products or foreign-funded enterprises no less than that of similar local products or enterprises.

"Prohibited import substitution subsidy" requires WTO members to prohibit government subsidies to encourage the substitution of imported products with local products, because such measures will directly undermine the fairness of global trade.

China is a leader in the field of electric vehicles and batteries, leading in related industries, while India is a core competitor in the global electric vehicle and battery industry.

For a long time, the Indian side has deliberately adopted discriminatory, targeted and exclusive policies against Chinese electric enterprises and battery manufacturers, which have seriously damaged the interests of China's overseas industry.

China has repeatedly warned India to stop such practices and create a platform for fair and fair competition for Chinese companies, but the Indian side has been neglected.So on October 15, China officially sued India to the WTO, a clear warning signal to the Indian side.

Because if India is still unwilling to cancel relevant measures, then China's next step will be to take countermeasures against India.