Ministry of Commerce: Hope that the European side will carefully consider the comments submitted by the Chinese side to maintain the stability and smooth operation of the China-Europe and global industrial supply chains.

On April 20th, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce answered questions from reporters regarding the revision of the EU's "Network Security Law" draft. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce stated that recently, the Ministry of Commerce submitted comments on the revision draft of the EU's "Network Security Law" to the European Commission. In the comments, China suggested that the EU should delete provisions in the draft related to "countries of network security concern" and "non-technical risks," as well as delete or substantially modify the criteria for designating "high-risk suppliers" and related restriction measures. China hopes that the EU will highly value and carefully consider the comments and suggestions submitted by China, strictly abide by WTO rules, avoid discriminatory restrictive measures, and maintain stable and smooth production-supply chains between China and the EU as well as globally. China will closely monitor the progress of the draft revision and is willing to engage in dialogue and communication with the EU on this matter. If the EU insists on enacting the draft and discriminates against Chinese enterprises, China will have to take corresponding countermeasures. China hopes that the EU will not underestimate China's determination to safeguard national interests and the legitimate rights of enterprises, and prevent the regression of China-EU economic and trade relations. The original text is as follows: Spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce on the EU's revision of the "Network Security Law" draft Question: We have noticed that the Ministry of Commerce recently submitted comments on the revision draft of the EU's "Network Security Law" to the European Commission. Could you provide more information on this matter? On April 17th, the Ministry of Commerce officially submitted comments on the revision draft of the EU's "Network Security Law" to the European Commission, expressing China's serious concerns and formal position. China believes that the draft, under the guise of network security and supply chain security, introduces highly subjective and arbitrary factors of "non-technical risks," especially in the draft's identification of "countries of network security concern" and "high-risk suppliers' lists, and the exclusion of countries and suppliers listed in 18 industries such as energy, transportation, and ICT from the EU's relevant supply chains. This is a typical practice of politicizing trade issues and over-securitizing. In the comments submitted to the EU, China believes that there are multiple problems with the draft content: first, it is suspected of violating basic principles of the WTO such as Most Favored Nation treatment and National Treatment, and breaches various WTO agreements including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the General Agreement on Trade in Services, the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. It also violates the EU's commitments on trade in services reduction. Second, it exceeds the legal authorization of the EU and erodes the exclusive authority of member states to manage national security affairs. Third, it will cause substantial harm to China-EU economic and trade relations, have a serious impact on the global production-supply chains, and will drag down the EU's own digital and green transformation processes. In the comments, China recommends that the EU delete provisions in the draft related to "countries of network security concern" and "non-technical risks," and delete or substantially modify the criteria for designating "high-risk suppliers" and related restriction measures. China hopes that the EU will highly value and carefully consider the comments and suggestions submitted by China, strictly abide by WTO rules, avoid adopting discriminatory restrictive measures, and maintain stable and smooth production-supply chains between China and the EU as well as globally. China will closely monitor the progress of the draft revision and is willing to engage in dialogue and communication with the EU on this matter. If the EU insists on enacting the draft and discriminates against Chinese enterprises, China will have to take corresponding countermeasures. China hopes that the EU will not underestimate China's determination to safeguard national interests and the legitimate rights of enterprises and prevent the regression of China-EU economic and trade relations. This article is selected from the official website of the Ministry of Commerce, edited by GMTEight: Jiang Yuanhua.