Kiel Institute China Initiative. China’s Export Surge: How can Europe Address Rising Competition from China?

Kiel Institute China Initiative cordially invites you to participate in the 52nd edition of our digital online event series.

Global China Conversations

China in the Global Economy

The EU’s goods trade deficit with China has more than doubled since 2019—reaching around 1 billion Euro a day in 2025—as China’s exports to the EU increased substantially while EU exports to China remained broadly stagnant. In her State of the Union address in September 2026, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that the “second China shock” is already here and is leading to deindustrialization in Europe’s industrial heartlands. Against this backdrop, EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has called for EU trade defense instruments to be deployed more easily and quickly if negotiations with China fail to produce tangible progress in rebalancing bilateral trade. Chinese manufacturers, however, are increasingly competing with European firms not only in the European market but also in China and in third markets.

How much of Europe’s competitiveness challenge is driven by growing Chinese competition? Can tariffs and other trade defense instruments effectively address competitive pressure from China in the European market, including price advantages arising from subsidies and an allegedly undervalued RMB? And how can Europe respond to Chinese competition in China itself and in third markets, where such instruments have limited reach? More generally, which domestic barriers to competitiveness should Europe tackle most urgently, and how?