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What overcapacity? China says its markets are merely more competitive

The last day of U.S. Secretary Janet Yellen's trip to China accompanied the strongest retort yet from Beijing authorities over her claims that China is flooding global markets with low-cost goods, especially in the new green markets.

As Yellen set out plans to formalise discussion with China over excess commercial capacity in electric automobiles (EVs),. solar panels and batteries, saying Washington would not accept. U.S. market being annihilated, the Chinese finance ministry. issued a statement stating it had already completely reacted to. her issues.

Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, at a roundtable meeting with. Chinese EV makers in Paris on Monday, said U.S. and European. assertions of excess capacity were groundless, including China's. rise in these industries was driven by development and total. supply chain systems, to name a few factors.

China's most current action, experts state, centres on the concept. that its production system is merely more competitive, a sharp. change in tone from just a month ago when officials including. Premier Li Qiang sounded their own cautions on overcapacity.

The strong pushback from Beijing contrasts with the. typically warm interactions between Yellen and Chinese officials. throughout her journey, leaving the two largest economies further apart. on the most popular disagreement in worldwide trade, which could add to. tensions.

They can not win the race, so they attempt to slow it down,. said Li Yong, primary researcher at D&C Believe, a Chinese think. tank, referring to the West's rhetoric on overcapacity.

We just do our things, they can do whatever they want--. the knife is in their hands.

Both sides believe they have solid, data-supported arguments. not to pull back.

The core criticism coming mostly from Washington and. Brussels is that state-led assistance for producers, paired. with depressed domestic demand, is pushing extreme Chinese. supply onto worldwide markets.

This drives down rates.

It threatens U.S. and EU firms which survive. on revenues instead of what Western officials argue is a. drip-feed of state resources in China. And, it can make complex. longer-term financial investment choices.

While China denies aids and points to U.S. and EU. government programmes to support their own industries, its. critics take a broader view of state support that integrates. cheap loans, land usage, big facilities financial investment and other. advantages that cover throughout a fully-integrated supply chain.

EU trade officials have singled out the big resources. redirected by China's state-dominated financial system from the. ailing home sector to its sprawling manufacturing complex,. as Beijing looks for other financial growth drivers.

For its part, China says commercial overcapacity is not. unique to the world's second-largest economy.

The so-called 'overcapacity' is a symptom of the. market mechanism at work, where supply-demand imbalance is typically. the norm, vice financing minister Liao Min informed regional media.

This can take place in any market economy system, consisting of in. the United States and other Western nations, where it has. occurred multiple times in history.

Industrial capability utilisation in China is lower than in. the United States or Europe, however not by much.

Likewise, China asserts supply and demand ought to be viewed from. an international point of view, especially provided Western criticism. focuses on markets crucial to environment goals for the whole. world.

That argument resonates.

I'm really sceptical about this concept of overcapacity,. Nicholas Lardy, senior fellow at Peterson Institute informed a. financial online forum in Hong Kong.

If you think about it, it indicates every nation ought to just. produce what it consumed itself. That means no trade. Where. would we be if there was no trade?

It's not a new argument. More than a decade ago, Washington. grumbled that the U.S. rust belt was paralyzed by Chinese. overproduction of steel, which had actually forced China to dump it at. really low prices.

China can argue its output is more in tune with worldwide. need than it was at that time. China's inventory levels have. ticked up during the COVID-hit years, but stay well below. levels seen in the 2010s.

China views the brand-new 3 industries of electric vehicles,. batteries and solar energy as key for its advancement.

In 2023, exports of the brand-new three totalled 1.06 trillion. yuan ($ 146.6 billion), up 29.9% year-on-year, main information. revealed. But they accounted for just 4.5% of China's overall. yuan-denominated exports in 2015, so those on Beijing's side. of the dispute see the West's concentrate on them as hypocritical.

U.S. and Europe have a little a gangster logic, said Wang. Jun, chief economic expert at Huatai Asset Management.

In the automobile sector, China argues overcapacity is. concentrated in combustion-engine cars rather than EVs and states. market mechanisms will ultimately weed out weak players.

Moreover, some designs by Chinese EV maker BYD sell in. Germany for more than double their price in China - an argument. that critics utilize versus Europe's concerns over unjust pricing.

China likewise states many of its firms are more innovative. more competitive. It can point to going beyond the United States. as world leader in patent applications.

One industry where international demand does not keep up with. Chinese production, though, is solar.

Xuyang Dong, China energy policy analyst at Environment Energy. Finance in Sydney, estimates China's module, wafer and cell. capacity coming online in 2024 suffices to satisfy yearly. global demand now through to 2032.

If you think of it from this point of view, the Chinese. federal government is subsidising the entire world's green transition,. stated Yue Su, principal China economist at the Economist. Intelligence System.

Whether this is reasonable to EU producers or employees is a. various question.

Having stated that, even if the West increases tariffs, I. still anticipate that China is going to dominate in a lot of these. markets.. ($ 1 = 7.2327 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(source: Reuters)