EU China Relations: Beijing Vows Countermeasures over 'Made in Europe' Plan

China formally warned the EU that it will take countermeasures if Brussels enacts the Industrial Accelerator Act, which Beijing calls "systemic discrimination." The Silicon Review reports on escalating trade tensions and the four strategic sectors at the center of the dispute.

China has fired its most direct warning shot at Brussels in over a decade, vowing to take countermeasures if the European Union enacts its proposed "Industrial Accelerator Act" (IAA) a sweeping industrial policy Beijing has labeled as "systemic discrimination" against Chinese investment.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce confirmed that it formally submitted comments to the European Commission on April 24, 2026, expressing "serious concerns" and warning that the Act "poses serious investment barriers". The IAA, proposed by the European Commission on March 4, targets four strategic emerging sectors: batteries, electric vehicles (EVs), solar photovoltaics (PV), and critical raw materials.

Under the Act's provisions, foreign acquisitions of EU companies in these sectors exceeding €100 million face mandatory pre-approval from member state investment authorities a threshold that effectively applies almost exclusively to Chinese investors, who currently dominate global manufacturing capacity in these industries. The legislation also establishes "Made in EU" public procurement requirements, compelling member states to prioritize European-origin and low-carbon products in public tenders. EU public procurement represents roughly 15% of GDP a market that, if directed toward European manufacturers, becomes a structural demand anchor for European industry.

Beijing condemned the Act on multiple legal grounds in its formal submission. According to the Ministry of Commerce, the legislation is "suspected of violating most-favored-nation treatment and national treatment principles" under WTO rules, including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 and the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures. The announcement also warned that the Act "will slow the EU's green transition, undermine fair competition in the EU market, and inflict fresh damage on multilateral trade rules".

The warning comes as China begins negotiating an extension to its uneasy trade-war truce with the United States, which has incentivized Beijing to keep European communication channels open as an alternative export market. China's manufacturing overcapacity in EVs, solar, and batteries driven by years of state subsidies needs export markets, and with Trump-era US tariffs substantially closing the American market, Europe has become the obvious destination.

As EU China relations reach a critical juncture with Beijing's most direct countermeasures threat in over a decade, The Silicon Review examines how Brussels' ambitious 20-by-35 manufacturing target is colliding with China's need for export markets and why nine European nations are cautioning against a trade war their industries can ill afford.