China and Peru's comprehensive strategic partnership continues to flourish under the strategic guidance of head-of-state diplomacy, highlighted during Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra's recent visit to China.
Boluarte's visit, from June 25 to 29 at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, resulted in the signing of multiple bilateral cooperation agreements across trade, digital economy, technological innovation, inspection and quarantine, and media sectors.
Additionally, both nations announced the completion of negotiations to upgrade their free trade agreement.
Cai Wei, director-general of the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized the strategic significance and direction set by two head-of-state meetings since last year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
"Peru stands among the earliest Latin American countries to establish diplomatic ties and forge a comprehensive strategic partnership with the People's Republic of China. It is also the earliest Latin American country to sign a comprehensive free trade agreement with China. In recent years, through joint efforts, cooperation across various sectors between China and Peru has yielded fruitful outcomes, with Chinese companies playing a pivotal role in major collaborative projects aimed at enhancing Peru's economic development and improving livelihoods. I believe that under the strategic leadership of both leaders, the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Peru will continue to thrive and bear fruit, embracing a brighter future," Cai said in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV).
Cai further noted that China and Latin American and Caribbean countries are pivotal components of the "Global South" and share developing country status, and China always holds long-term strategic view towards its relations with Latin America
The initiative proposed a decade ago to establish a community with a shared future between China and Latin American countries has garnered growing support from nations across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Under head-of-state diplomacy, China-Latin America relations have significantly advanced, ushering in an era characterized by equality, mutual benefit, innovation, openness, and improvements for their populations.
"This year, Peru and Brazil will host the APEC Leaders' Informal Meeting and the G20 Leaders' Summit consecutively. Global governance is entering a pivotal 'Latin American moment', with global attention turning towards Latin America. China strongly backs Peru and Brazil in their hosting roles and anticipates these gatherings will positively contribute to advancing global economic recovery and sustainable development," Cai concluded.
China-Peru diplomatic relations strengthened through head-of-state diplomacy: official
Trade protectionism is a policy often sought by industries facing lagging competitiveness, said Hungarian Minister for National Economy Marton Nagy on the European Union's decision to impose provisional tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs) imported from China.
The European Commission on June 12 unveiled a preliminary decision to impose provisional tariffs on EVs imported from China after its anti-subsidy investigation. The pre-disclosed duties range from 17.4 percent to 38.1 percent, in addition to the standard 10 percent vehicle duty already in place.
The minister reaffirmed Hungary's stance on advocating for free trade and opposing the imposition of provisional tariffs on EVs imported from China in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) in Budapest on Friday.
"The government view is very clear. We are very against these tariffs because this means protectionism rather than free competition. And we learned that free competition and globalization is good for the development of the economy. Any kind of 'wars' between countries is a very huge burden on economic development. We don't like trade wars because if somebody is posing tariffs, it's a very natural and normal reaction on the other side to set counter actions, which leads nowhere," he said.
Hungary's six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, commencing on July 1, has made enhancing the competitiveness of the European economy a key priority. Nagy noted that the European economy's declining economic competitiveness has been an enduring issue, exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the ongoing energy crisis.
"Frankly speaking, I think that if somebody wants to use tariffs, this means weakness. Technological weakness and competitiveness problems. Everybody knows that the European Union's competitiveness is lagging behind, losing blood from the last years. This is true for the vehicle industry itself to improve the competitiveness. And we also think that the electric vehicle market and the transition is the future," the minister said.
Nagy said that the reasons behind Europe's declining competitiveness are deeply rooted, stressing that the EU puts substantial funds to support Ukraine rather than pursuing the kinds of industrial upgrades actively sought by other major economies like China and the United States.
"Hundreds of hundreds of billions of euro, and it's not going to develop the economy. It's going to the financing the war questions, which is also a very big problem. In the European Union, we go back to Maastricht criteria, which means that the budget deficit in percentage of GDP is 3 percent. So, how can we finance a digital transition or EV or green transition without money? How can we do it? And meanwhile we have to finance the war and the difference in industry. So it is inconsistency, what I call fiscal inconsistency or incompetency," he said.
The minister added that raising tariffs and other protectionist measures will not bolster the global competitiveness of EU companies.
"I would be more happy if the European Union would go that way to subsidize the produce production, subsidize the household by electric cars and then have free competition, rather than set tariffs and then say, okay, protection of the inner market. But this is also a drag under electric car transition, because with this the transition won't be so fast," he said.
Nagy further expressed his belief that the so-called "overcapacity" of China's new energy sector contradicts economic principles, suggesting that supply and demand rebut this Western-driven narrative.
"I cannot understand what is 'overcapacity'. Because if there is an 'overcapacity', this means bankruptcy of that kind of companies, because there is no need for this product. So, if there is an overcapacity that is disappearing in the next year, so, this means there is no overcapacity. Again, if [there] would be an 'overcapacity', then the markets say that this kind of company cannot exist. If these Chinese companies exist, this means there is a need for this product," he said.
EU tariffs on Chinese EVs show weakness, create burden: Hungarian minister
