EU chamber chief says Europe becoming more reliant on China

Europe’s push to reduce its dependence on China is driving many of its companies deeper into Chinese supply chains, reports the South China Morning Post citing the head of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.

“Europe is becoming more dependent on China, not less,” chamber president Jens Eskelund said, adding that for European firms, staying competitive increasingly meant embedding themselves more deeply in the supply chains Brussels wanted them to move away from.

Citing the results of a survey of nearly 300 chamber members in January and February, Eskelund said Europe was seeing “the highest-ever share of European companies onshoring more into China”. 56% of respondents said they were increasing onshoring in China, while just 7% said they were only increasing offshoring. That dependence was increasingly driven by cost, he said, with Chinese supply chains having become so competitive that integrating into them was often the only way to produce the best products at the lowest cost.