American-style double standards in display: Groundless accusations of China's "overcapacity"

Western politicians and media have recently been fanning the flames of the so-called China's "overcapacity" narrative, alleging that government subsidies in China have inflated the EV market and the new energy sector at large, leading to China "dumpin" its products onto the global market and potentially causing harm to other economies. In response to these allegations, GMW reporters reached out to Xiao Xinjian, Director of the Second Research Department at the Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy Studies Center, for an interview.

Xiao refutes these claims, emphasizing that China's green, low-carbon products meet a global demand for a better and more sustainable future while supporting the global energy transition and climate actions. "China's commitment to green, low-carbon development will continue to contribute to the world," Xiao asserts, "its affordable EVs not only benefit Western consumers, but also facilitate the transition to a green economy in the United States and the European Union and empower efforts against climate change in developing countries. China is actively contributing to the global climate change agenda and promoting a green, low-carbon economic landscape worldwide."

Moreover, Xiao dismisses the "overcapacity" allegation from the West as baseless and unfounded. He argues that these accusations represent a clear breach of international trade principles within the context of economic globalization. Xiao points out that the actual situation contradicts these claims, as the capacity utilization rate of China's major NEV manufacturers has remained around 80% in recent years, indicating a standard and sustainable level of production.

Xiao delves deeper, exposing the flawed logic behind the claim: "By the very criteria they employ to accuse China, numerous data will show that there is surplus capacity in the United States. This exemplifies the double standards of the US and Western countries." Xiao emphasizes that accusing China of "exporting excess capacity" not only contravenes the fundamental principle of comparative advantage in Western economics but also serves as a pretext for the US and its Western allies to impede economic globalization with trade protection measures. The pushback against China's new energy vehicles, which have disrupted the entrenched market dominance and profit margins of conventional automakers in the US and Western countries, unveils a prevailing hegemonic mindset in the West. The US refuses to acknowledge its lag in the EV and solar panel sectors, let alone recognize the inherent advantages of China's socialist market economy. The narrative of "overcapacity in China" reflects not only a lack of confidence in the US' own development but also a growing anxiety about potentially losing its hegemonic control of the global market.