By H.E. Wang Qing, Ambassador of the PRC to Sierra Leone
Some Western politicians who are accustomed to creating discourse traps for China have recently invented a new concept called “China’s overcapacity”, pointing the finger at China’s industrial products, especially the new energy industry represented by electric vehicles, lithium batteries and photovoltaic products. This argument is totally contrary to common sense and facts. And it is a typical “double standard” and a new tactic of trade protectionism and an outright false proposition.
The layout of global production capacity is the objective result of the joint action of the law of the market and economic globalization, and is the inevitable requirement for countries to carry out division of labor and cooperation and optimize factor resources in accordance with their comparative advantages. In terms of international trade practice, the US, EU, Japan and other developed countries have all along exported large quantities of products to the rest of the world. About 80% of US-produced chips are for export. Around 80% and 50% of the cars produced in Germany and Japan are exported. Boeing and Airbus aircraft are also exported in great numbers sharing more than 90% of the global market. If you follow the logic of their speculation “China’s overcapacity”, then the US, EU, Japan and other developed countries are the main exporter of “overcapacity”. Talking about free trade in areas where one country has a competitive advantage and engaging in protectionism in areas where other countries have a competitive advantage is a total “double standard”. The essence is to suppress the vast number of developing countries, represented by China, at the low end of the value chain, so that they can continue to occupy the high end of the value chain to obtain huge added value and maintain their economic hegemony.
China’s new energy industry has undergone decades of rapid development. The competitive advantages it now enjoys stem from China’s large-scale market, complete industrial chain system and abundant human resources, as well as enterprises’ huge investment in research and development innovation and entrepreneurs’ unremitting efforts, which is the result of full market competition, rather than the formation of the so-called “subsidies” or unfair competition. China’s early layout of the relevant industry development, long-term research and development investment has formed a leading technological advantage. China’s industrial chain and supply chain are complete, with strong industrial supporting advantages, significantly reducing the cost of enterprise procurement and other costs. China has a large market with a high degree of integration of “applicable technology” and “market application”. Continuing to promote the popularization and use of new energy-related products can amortize the costs of technology research and development, production and other costs. According to the industry association estimates, in 2023 China’s lithium battery core average production cost is 0.6-0.7 yuan / Wh, which is lower than about 45% and 35% compared with the United States (1.1 yuan / Wh), Europe (0.98 yuan / Wh). The photovoltaic module manufacturing cost is about 0.9 yuan / watt, which is lower than about 50% compared with the United States, Europe. China does not have prohibited subsidies under WTO rules. The provision of subsidies is a common practice in the early stages of industrial development in various countries. At present, China does not subsidize new energy vehicles, photovoltaics and lithium batteries at the production level, and provides tax incentives and other support at the research and development level, as well as consumer incentives at the consumption level, and the policy has been gradually rolled back. These subsidies are not linked to exports and are not prohibited by the WTO, which can be enjoyed equally by foreign-invested enterprises operating in China.
From the trend of industrial development, green and low carbon development is the prevailing trend. Global green transition will continue to generate great demand for new energy products. According to the research of International Energy Agency, to meet the carbon neutrality goal, the global sales of NEVs need to reach about 45 million in 2030, more than three times that of 2023 and far exceeding current global supplies. Meanwhile, accelerating new energy technology and product upgrade and iteration will continuously create new demand. Overall, global new energy industry is still at a start-up and growth stage. Far from excessive, the capacity is insufficient. Climate change is a global challenge and requires global cooperation to address it. The development of new energy industries and the realization of green and low-carbon transformation are important initiatives. Undoubtedly, China’s new energy industry has made and will continue to make great contributions to the fight against climate change.
Over the years, “Made in China” has provided the global market, including Sierra Leone, with a wide range of cheap and high-quality products. We are pleased to see that solar energy products from China come into more and more Sierra Leonean families, which is improving the power supply in the most remote areas such as Kono, Pujehun, Kabala and so on, so that ordinary people also began to enjoy the convenience and easiness of modern life. In February this year, President Bio successfully paid a state visit to China. In the joint statement the two sides proposed to further expand trade and investment cooperation. China will actively support more Sierra Leonean products to enter the Chinese market. The Sierra Leonean side will encourage more Chinese enterprises to invest in Sierra Leone. In the future, China and Sierra Leone will continue to work together, based on their respective comparative advantages and development needs, to promote technological innovation and industrial development, create new growth points of cooperation, jointly address common global challenges and continue to write a new chapter of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation as well as common development and prosperity.
