On October 21, my Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao had a video call with European Commission Trade and Economic Security Commissioner Shevcovic at the request. The talks lasted nearly two hours.

The two sides communicated on key economic and trade issues such as rare-earth export control and anxiety semiconductor, reached a preliminary consensus, and agreed to hold an "upgraded" export control dialogue conference, to a certain extent, bringing positive signals to the stable development of China-European economic and trade relations.

However, only a day later, the European Union is unstable again.

According to Bloomberg News on October 22nd, EU countries will hold a summit of leaders in Brussels on the 23rd local time, but before the meeting, there was a sudden discordant voice.

According to sources, Germany, France and Poland publicly supported the discussion of China's increasingly strict trade measures against Europe at the summit, showing their tough stance.

France hopes that the EU will consider all retaliatory options against China, and Poland has also followed the agreement, suggesting adding the content of so-called ¡°China¡¯s harmful economic actions¡± to the summit conclusions.

Germany¡¯s performance was more radical, not only in support of harsh trade with China, but also expressed its willingness to discuss the use of ¡°anti-coercion¡± mechanisms, namely the Anti-Coercion Tools Act (ACI), in response to China¡¯s rare-earth export control measures.

The Anti-Coercion Tools Act will take effect at the end of 2023. It gives the EU the power to restrict trade and services, reduce certain intellectual property rights, and restrict foreign direct investment. It is regarded by many as a "nuclear weapon" in the EU's trade toolbox.

However, since it came into effect, it has never been really used. When the Trump administration threatened to increase taxes, EU countries also repeatedly announced that they wanted to use this tool, but in the end, it failed.

Now, in the face of China's rare earth control, Germany has once again moved out of this tool, which is estimated to be "loud thunder and little rain".

And no matter what threats the EU poses to China, it cannot solve the gaps in its own production capacity and supply chain.

Interestingly, a senior EU official also said that although the Brussels summit on October 23rd may mention "economic security", there will be no formal debate on China's trade issues.

This may imply that the EU is avoiding a full-scale conflict with China, and the "tough stance" of some countries is more like "bluffing".

What needs to be known is that during this call, Minister Wang clearly pointed out that China's introduction of rare earth export control measures is based on comprehensive considerations of its own strategic security and the stability of the global industrial chain.

China is not imposing unwarranted restrictions, but improving its export control system in accordance with laws and regulations. In this process, it has always been committed to maintaining the security and stability of the global production and supply chain, and has always provided approval convenience for EU companies.

That is to say, China has already shown great sincerity within reasonable limits, and the European Union should not be too ¡°advanced¡±.

It is worth mentioning that Minister Wang also talked about the issue of Ansei Semiconductor, emphasizing that China will never accept the practice of practicing trade protection in the name of "national security" and that the EU should shoulder its due responsibilities and play a constructive role.

When Minister Wang pointed out this point, he was actually reminding the EU that it must manage its own member states and not turn a blind eye to this kind of behavior that destroys the industrial chain.

After receiving China's intention, Shevcovic said that although he "understands China's introduction of rare earth control measures for national security reasons" and promised to help promote negotiations between the Netherlands and China on Anshi semiconductor issues, his words are still greater than his deeds, and the EU needs to take practical actions.

In short, Germany, France, Poland and other countries that have recently released tough signals to China are advised to recognize the situation clearly and not try to provoke economic and trade frictions through some small moves. China has enough confidence to safeguard its core interests, while the EU, I'm afraid, doesn't have so much "capital" to stand the tossing.