French media: Chinese enterprises will be restricted from participating in some EU medical device public tenders in the next 5 years. On Monday, EU member states voted to restrict Chinese medical device manufacturers' access to the EU's vast procurement market. Chinese enterprises will be banned from participating in EU tenders worth more than 5 million euros within five years. This is the first time that the EU has used the "International Procurement Instrument (IPI)" which was promulgated in 2022. This move comes after negotiations between the EU and the Chinese government on market access proved fruitless. Once the EU commissioners finally sign off on it, this measure will be implemented within a few weeks. This vote may exacerbate Sino-European economic and trade tensions ahead of Tuesday's meeting between the two sides' trade officials. Sources said that European Commission Vice-President for Trade and Economic Security Sabine Weyand and China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao are expected to meet during the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris. The meeting is scheduled for 4:30 PM on Tuesday. Sources said that both will attend the "influential" trade minister dinner organized by WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. According to the EU side, compared with the restrictions Chinese producers face in competing markets in Europe, Chinese medical device manufacturers can basically freely participate in government procurement tenders in the EU market. The report points out that these devices belong to one of the ten categories specified in the "Made in China 2025" plan, which aims to achieve by 2025: a 70% share of domestic mid-to-high-end medical equipment in county-level hospitals; and an 80% share of domestic core components. The report reads, "Overall, the European Commission found that 87% of public procurement tenders... contain explicit or implicit restrictions affecting the procurement of imported medical devices." The EU's "International Procurement Tool" was passed in 2022 with the aim of opening up public procurement markets closed to European companies. Despite the relative thawing of EU-China relations since Trump's return to the White House, there remain differences on key issues. European countries are anxious about China and concerned about the highly competitive Chinese corporate大军. In fields critical to Europe's industrial future, including electric vehicles and clean energy, they fear severe impacts on European businesses. From Beijing's perspective, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian responded at the regular press conference on Tuesday when asked, "The EU consistently claims to be the most open market in the world, but in fact, it is gradually moving towards protectionism, resorting to unilateral economic and trade tools, practicing unfair competition under the guise of open competition, which is a typical case of double standards." Source: rfi Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833907279301632/ Disclaimer: This article only represents the author's personal views.