FirstFT: Beijing attacks EU’s anti-subsidies investigation into electric cars

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In its first official feedback on the probe, Beijing has warned that the EU’s anti-subsidies investigation into China’s electrical automotive business could have a destructive impression on relations, describing it as “a unadorned protectionist act”.

The Chinese language commerce ministry vowed to guard the “reliable rights” of its firms, saying the investigation, which was announced on Wednesday by Ursula von der Leyen, “will critically disrupt and warp the worldwide automotive business provide chain, together with within the EU”.

Chinese language electric vehicles nonetheless characterize solely a small share of the bloc’s market, however they’re rising quick and will hit 15 per cent inside two years. This has anxious the EU, which had its photo voltaic panel market dominated by Chinese language producers greater than a decade in the past.

For China, the EV business is a brilliant spot in an financial system that’s struggling to emerge from the pandemic. Beijing is seeking to superior expertise industries and the inexperienced transition to assist China’s financial system cut back its dependence on the property sector.

Exports to the EU have been one of many nice hopes for China’s EV makers, who’re suffering from oversupply problems, after the US restricted entry by levying heavy tariffs on Chinese language automotive imports whereas providing subsidies for domestically produced electrical autos.

“China can pay shut consideration to the EU’s protectionist tendencies and follow-up actions, and firmly safeguard the reliable rights and pursuits of Chinese language enterprises,” the ministry mentioned. Read the full story here.

• Extra EVs: Greater than half the electrical autos bought by Vietnam’s VinFast this yr have been to a related party, underscoring restricted demand on the start-up whose valuation briefly eclipsed that of Ford and Common Motors.

Right here’s what else I’m conserving tabs on at this time:

• ECB rates of interest: European Central Financial institution governors are cut up over whether or not to boost or maintain charges at this time, with potential pitfalls in either direction.

• UK-China: The British authorities is anticipated to formally respond to a damning report from parliament that discovered the UK’s strategy to China’s “more and more subtle” espionage was “fully insufficient”.

• Outcomes: Adobe, UK retailer John Lewis and promoting group M&C Saatchi report.

5 extra high tales

1. Joe Biden marketing campaign seems to revive ballot numbers, coupling new assaults on Republican insurance policies with an enormous promoting blitz greater than a yr earlier than election day. In the present day the president will journey to Maryland to ship what his high officers have dubbed a significant speech on the financial system. Read more on this here.

2. Arm has been valued at $52bn forward of public itemizing as shares within the UK chip designer have been priced at $51 apiece earlier than buying and selling begins at this time. The worth is on the high finish of a spread of $47-$51 a share resulting from excessive demand that resulted in its inventory being greater than 5 occasions oversubscribed. Here’s more from our report.

3. Personal funds are set to spend billions of {dollars} to adjust to US disclosure guidelines imposed by the Securities and Trade Fee final month. Hedge fund, enterprise capital and personal fairness teams wish to recruit extra employees and rent totally different sorts of legal professionals. Here’s how else the industry is coping with the biggest regulatory changes since 2008.

4. The allegations that prompted Bernard Looney to resign from BP have been made as not too long ago as final week. The board responded by opening a second probe in 18 months into Looney’s previous private relationships with colleagues earlier than the chief government give up on Tuesday. Here are more details on the allegations and the board’s investigation.

5. Falling home gross sales and costs have left British property brokers at their gloomiest in 14 years, in response to the Royal Establishment of Chartered Surveyors’ month-to-month survey. New purchaser inquiries, a measure of housing demand, and new sale directions declined, whereas home value steadiness, which measures the distinction between the share of surveyors seeing rises and falls in residence costs, got here in under economists’ expectations. Here’s more from the report published today.

Information in-depth

Gloom is spreading by Germany’s manufacturing sector. German business has gone from being the powerhouse of Europe’s financial system to one of the region’s worst performers after a collection of shocks, together with the pandemic’s disruption of world provide chains and the facility disaster unleashed by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

We’re additionally studying and watching . . . 

Chart of the day

Pushed by a post-pandemic rebound, financial uncertainty and the price of dwelling disaster, the quantity of money funds rose within the UK by 7 per cent final yr to six.4bn — the first increase in a decade.

Take a break from the information

Why can we acquire garments? Mark C O’Flaherty’s new e book, Narrative Thread, presents an intimate portrait of the many reasons we hold on to certain items of clothing. “The place households and lovers are concerned, some gadgets have been extremely emotional,” O’Flaherty informed the Monetary Occasions.

Extra contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm and Tee Zhuo