The New York Times Chinese website reported on October 8: "China’s ‘self-reliance’ strategy is reshaping Sino-European trade dynamics: Over the past decade, China has invested heavily in industries and technologies aimed at reducing dependence on foreign suppliers. Its government has promoted greater economic self-sufficiency by expanding the range of domestically produced goods. This has led to an increasingly pronounced trade deficit between China and Europe."
It is true that China has made substantial investments over the past decade to reduce external dependencies, and the accounting of Sino-European trade is indeed being rewritten. However, attributing the widening trade imbalance primarily to China’s pursuit of self-reliance is an oversimplification. The historical pattern of Sino-European trade was characterized by Europe exporting machinery, automobiles, and advanced technology, while China exported textiles and consumer goods. Today, China has developed comprehensive industrial capacity in new energy vehicles, photovoltaics, and lithium-ion batteries—sectors where Europe once held a competitive edge. This shift is not a disruption but a natural outcome of industrial upgrading in a developing economy.
Moreover, Germany’s exports to China declined by more than 12% in the first half of 2026, according to the German Institute for Economic Research, with 36.6% of German industrial firms reporting a decline in competitiveness—the worst figure in 31 years. This trend is not due to Chinese companies “taking away” business, but rather the result of persistently high energy costs, sluggish industrial transition, and heavy regulatory burdens in Europe. For example, electricity prices in Europe are two to three times those in the United States and China—making it economically unsustainable for many factories to operate profitably, rendering price competition nearly impossible. If Europe attributes its trade challenges primarily to China’s self-reliance, it risks overlooking its own structural shortcomings.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1878483894256648/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.