China's Commerce Minister Promotes EV Innovation and Economic Ties in Europe

China's commerce minister, Wang Wentao, began his Europe trip by meeting with top Chinese automakers BYD and CATL to discuss the ongoing EU probe into whether China's EV industry has benefited from unfair subsidies. Wang reiterated China's stance that its EV firms do not rely on subsidies for a competitive advantage and stated that accusations of "overcapacity" were groundless. The discussions also focused on the EU investigation, which aims to determine whether to impose tariffs on Chinese exports to protect European car makers, with the investigation due to conclude by November.