Chinese Ambassador Rejects De Wever’s Claims on Trade
The Chinese ambassador to Belgium has delivered a sharp rebuke to Prime Minister Bart De Wever, stating that blaming China for Belgium’s economic difficulties will not solve the country’s real problems. The exchange marks a significant escalation in diplomatic tensions between Brussels and Beijing over trade and industrial policy.
In an exclusive interview on the VRT NWS podcast ‘China voorbij de muur’, Ambassador Fei Shengchao responded directly to a four-page letter De Wever sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in March, in which the Belgian prime minister warned that “China is destroying our economy” and called for urgent EU action against what he described as unfair Chinese competition.
“Blaming China may be a smart political move, but it will never solve your real problems,” Ambassador Fei told VRT NWS.
Context and Background
De Wever’s letter, first reported by De Morgen, detailed multiple grievances against China’s trade practices. The prime minister cited a 20% year-on-year increase in Chinese imports of chemical and pharmaceutical products into Europe in early 2026, and noted that the EU’s trade deficit with China had reached €360 billion in 2025.
De Wever also raised concerns about Chinese cyber operations, espionage, Beijing’s support for Russia’s war economy, and the risk of a Taiwan conflict disrupting global chip supplies. “The question is: are we willing to endure the pain? My answer is ‘yes’,” De Wever wrote.
Ambassador Fei acknowledged receiving the letter but pushed back against what he called “megaphone diplomacy,” expressing frustration that the letter had been leaked to the press. “It is important for China, Belgium and Europe to have more dialogue with each other,” he said. “We do not solve our problems through so-called ‘megaphone diplomacy,’ but through open communication.”
Key Developments
The ambassador rejected several of De Wever’s specific accusations. On forced technology transfer — a central complaint from European businesses operating in China — Fei stated that such practices are illegal under Chinese law. “Half of all new patents worldwide now come from China,” he noted. “So it is in our own interest to protect intellectual property, not just of Chinese but also of foreign companies.”
On China’s export surge, particularly in electric vehicles — which grew from fewer than 1 million cars exported globally in 2020 to over 7 million in 2025 — Fei acknowledged the trend but framed it as a natural economic evolution. “The train of Chinese economic development will not slow down,” he said. “Whether the rest of the world likes it or not, China will continue to focus on its economic development and a better life for its citizens.”
The Volvo Gent Factor
A particularly sensitive issue in the diplomatic exchange is the future of Volvo Car Gent, the last remaining car factory in Belgium. Owned by Chinese automaker Geely since 2010, the plant employs 6,500 direct workers and supports an estimated 16,000 indirect jobs.
Ambassador Fei pointed out that “Geely does not have a single Chinese manager in Ghent” and described the factory as “the largest industrial employer in Belgium.” However, the plant’s future is uncertain. Production of the next-generation EX40 and EC40 models is being moved to a new factory in Košice, Slovakia, and De Wever established a taskforce in April to secure Volvo Gent’s future.
“It is easy to criticize China,” Fei said, “but the difficulties here are partly related to import tariffs and high energy prices. China is the positive factor in this story.”
Analysis and Implications
The diplomatic clash comes at a pivotal moment for EU-China relations. The European Commission is developing the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), which would require foreign investors to buy European components and transfer technology — measures that critics argue mirror the Chinese practices they seek to counter.
EU commissioners held crunch talks on 29 May about potential restrictions on Chinese imports, a phenomenon some analysts have dubbed “China Shock 2.0,” warning that Europe could experience the same kind of industrial decline that affected US manufacturing towns after China joined the WTO in 2001.
Ignacio García Bercero, a senior fellow at the Bruegel thinktank and former EU trade official, told The Guardian that “sometimes there’s a little bit of a tendency to sound very tough, but then not to act tough, and I don’t think that is a clever way to handle things.”
Grzegorz Stec, head of the Brussels office of the Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics), added that “China is not deliberately trying to dismantle Europe’s economy, but that is the result of the economic model Beijing is doubling down on.”
What’s Next
The EU leaders’ summit on 18 June is expected to have China as a key agenda item. Ambassador Fei struck a cautiously conciliatory tone, describing China and Europe as partners rather than rivals. “Even between partners there is competition, and just like during the Olympic Games there are winners and losers,” he said. “Sometimes China wins, sometimes Belgium or Europe. In the end, everyone becomes stronger from that.”
The question now is whether the EU can maintain unity among member states with differing dependencies on China — and whether Belgium’s concerns will translate into concrete EU action at the June summit.