The Dutch and Polish offices of a Chinese security products company have been raided by the European Commission, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA. European regulators are tightening controls on companies suspected of receiving foreign subsidies.
A representative of China's Ministry of Commerce condemned the raids, saying they interfered with the normal order of fair competition.
The EU regulation on foreign subsidies allows the European Commission from July 2023 to assess whether subsidies allow companies to submit too favorable bids for public procurement in the EU. The commission has opened four investigations against Chinese companies.
„The Commission has indications that the inspected company may have received foreign subsidies that may distort the domestic market under the Foreign Subsidy Regulation,” it said in a statement.
The commission did not name the company or the country in which it is located. It can then open an investigation if it finds sufficient evidence of distortion of the internal market.
The China Chamber of Commerce in the EU said it had been notified of raids at a Chinese company's offices in Poland and the Netherlands, with regulators seizing employees' IT equipment and mobile phones and demanding access to data.
“The actions of the EU send a harmful signal not only to Chinese enterprises, but also to all non-European companies operating in the European Union”, the statement of the chamber of commerce states.
„The sudden unannounced inspection on April 23 undermines the business environment for foreign companies within the EU”.
An official from China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement that the raids undermined the confidence of all foreign businesses to operate in Europe, and said China would take all necessary measures to protect the rights of its companies.