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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian’s Regular Press Conference on March 22, 2024
2024-03-22 20:12

At the invitation of Premier Li Qiang of the State Council, Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Dinesh Gunawardena will pay an official visit to China from March 25 to 30.

At the invitation of Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha will pay an official visit to China from March 25 to April 1.

People’s Daily: China announced that Nauru President Adeang will visit China. Can you brief us on the arrangements of Nauru President’s upcoming visit and China’s expectation?

Lin Jian: This visit will be Nauru President’s first state visit to China after China and Nauru reestablished diplomatic ties in January this year. China stands ready to work with Nauru to take this visit as an opportunity to cement political mutual trust, expand exchanges and cooperation across the board, deepen the friendship between our two peoples and further advance our bilateral relations.

China Daily: At a meeting on March 20, the government of Ukraine decided to scrap the “International Sponsors of War” list made and published by Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention. What is China’s comment?

Lin Jian: China’s position on the Ukraine issue is consistent and clear. We always stand on the side of peace and justice. Regarding the listing of Chinese companies by relevant Ukrainian institution, we have made clear our firm opposition. China welcomes the canceling of the list by Ukraine.

Reuters: The UN Security Council is supposed to vote today on whether to extend the mandate for the UN panel on experts on North Korea. Does China support extending that mandate?

Lin Jian: I’m not aware of that.

CNR: China just announced Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena’s visit to China. What’s China’s arrangements and expectations of this visit?  

Lin Jian: Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has visited China several times and greatly contributed to the growth of China-Sri Lanka relations. During this visit, President Xi Jinping will meet with him, and Premier Li Qiang and Chairman Zhao Leji will meet and have talks with him respectively. The leaders of the two countries will have an in-depth exchange of views on carrying forward traditional friendship, deepening political mutual trust, expanding practical cooperation, and international and regional issues of common interest.

China and Sri Lanka are traditional friends and neighbors. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1957, the two countries have always stood together and moved ahead shoulder-to-shoulder, setting a good example of equality and friendly relations between countries. In recent years, the two countries have had frequent high-level interactions, advanced political mutual trust, strengthened exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade, people-to-people exchange, and other fields, and maintained sound communication and coordination on regional and international affairs. Last October, President of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe attended the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in China. President Xi Jinping had an in-depth exchange of views with him and they reached important common understandings on developing the bilateral relations.

China attaches great importance to its relations with Sri Lanka. We stand ready to work with Sri Lanka to implement the important common understandings reached by leaders of the two countries, expand exchange and cooperation in various fields, including high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and strive for new progress in the strategic cooperative partnership featuring sincere mutual assistance and ever-lasting friendship.

CCTV: China has recently faced headwinds when exporting its electric vehicles. Not long ago, the EU announced customs registration of electric vehicles imported from China, and will probably impose retroactive tariffs on relevant vehicles. The UK and the US are ready to launch an anti-subsidy probe into Chinese electric vehicles or an investigation into the national security risks posed by them. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the government is taking steps to ensure the success of America’s electric vehicle industry. What’s your comment?

Lin Jian: Electric vehicle is a globalized industry. Only division of labor and cooperation can bring mutual benefits, and only fair competition can bring technological progress. Advocating protectionism and establishing trade barriers in the name of “fair competition” and “national security” goes against the principles of market economy and WTO rules. In the short term, some countries will seemingly take advantage of these practices, but what they protect are their underdeveloped industries, what they lose is their future development, and what they reap is lose-lose. In the long term, the interests of their industries and customers will be affected, and the global transition to a green economy and the fight against climate change will be undermined. In fact, the automobile industries in the US and Europe have expressed opposition to these practices. Many European automobile executives and business associations believe that the West should not fear Chinese electric vehicles, and restrictions such as levies cannot help solve the challenges that stifle their competitiveness.

I want to stress that the popularity of Chinese electric vehicles relies on our technological innovation and superb quality in the midst of global competition rather than subsidies. Meanwhile, China has abolished all market access restrictions on foreign investment in manufacturing and remains open to international car makers who can fully share in the dividends of China’s big market. In 2023, China was the second largest market for Tesla who sells over 600,000 vehicles with a year-on-year increase of 37.3 percent in retail sales and generates USD 21.75 billion of revenue. Mercedes Benz, BMW and Volkswagen have been household names in China. Reports say that as the West feels unsettled by the exports of Chinese electric vehicles, one Volkswagen vehicle is sold every 10 seconds in the Chinese market.

Economic globalization is a major trend, protecti