(Bari) Both an essential partner and formidable competitor of the world’s great democracies, China was the target of virulent criticism from G7 leaders on Friday in Italy, accused of distorting the rules of international trade and supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine.
In a draft final declaration consulted by AFP, the “Group of 7” (United States, Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan) said they wanted to “act together to […] fight against policies and non-trade practices that undermine the level playing field and our economic security, and strengthen our coordination to address the challenges of global overcapacity.”
Joe Biden, Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron and their counterparts meeting at a summit with the European Union since Thursday in Borgo Egnazia, near Bari, in southern Italy, are concerned about the risk posed to global markets by the increase in Chinese exports of low-cost products, fueled by subsidies for new technologies, particularly in the photovoltaic energy, electric vehicles and lithium battery sectors.
While saying they “aspire for constructive and stable relations with China” whose “importance in global trade” they recognize, the G7 leaders express their “concern” about non-market policies and practices that have “consequences for global level, market distortions and harmful overcapacity in a growing number of sectors”.
“We stand for fair global competition,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X. Faced with Chinese overproduction, the G7 countries and Brussels will align “their responses” to the issue of industrial overcapacity, she promised.
At the end of the summit, Emmanuel Macron also spoke of a need for “synchronization” of the economies of the G7 countries, in particular those of the United States on one side, and Europe on the other. Responses to China “must not lead to competition between G7 members and a discussion has been agreed on the issue of subsidies in our economies,” he told reporters.
The G7 also urges Beijing to “refrain from […] export control measures, particularly on critical minerals, which could generate significant disruptions to the global supply chain”, as the country imposes restrictions on exports of minerals crucial to sectors like electric vehicles and telecoms.
In retaliation for massive imports of Chinese electric vehicles into the EU, which threaten European manufacturers, Brussels announced on Wednesday up to 38% additional customs duties, a long way, however, from the 100% duties announced in May by US President Joe Biden.
Reacting to the EU’s announcement, China announced on Thursday that it “reserves the right” to lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) “and take all necessary measures to resolutely defend the rights and interests of Chinese companies”.
The G7 also mentions in its draft declaration Chinese aid to the Russian war effort, the military and diplomatic situation in the “Indo-Pacific” zone, with the focus on territorial disputes between Beijing and its neighbors, including Taiwan, and security of sea lanes in the South China Sea.
“We call on China to stop transferring […] weapons components and equipment that fuel the Russian defense sector,” the statement said.
“We stand united in supporting Ukraine’s fight for its freedom and reconstruction for as long as necessary,” say the heads of state and government, who received Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday and promised him 50 billion dollars (€47 billion) from revenues from frozen Russian assets, an “unequivocal signal” sent to Putin.
The latter, however, assured that President Xi Jinping had “given his word” to him, during a telephone interview, that Beijing would not sell arms to Russia.
The G7 welcomed non-member heads of state and government on Friday, including India’s Narendra Modi, Abdullah II of Jordan, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Argentina’s Javier Milei and Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Pope Francis also came to speak on artificial intelligence, warning against the military use of AI and calling for a ban on “lethal autonomous weapons.”
The summit was also marked by friction between France, the United States and Italy, the host country, which was criticised for opposing a reference in favour of defending the right to abortion in the summit’s final declaration.
The draft final declaration does not include any direct reference to the right to abortion, but more or less retains a more vague formulation published at the end of the Hiroshima summit (Japan) in 2023 referring to “sexual and reproductive”.