On May 16, 2024, the Chinese Embassy in the United States held the “My China Album: Sharing Our Stories about China” event. Ambassador Xie Feng attended the event and delivered remarks.

Ambassador Xie said that this year is an election year for the United States. Non-interference is the tradition of China’s foreign policy. We will not interfere in the U.S. presidential election. Meanwhile, we firmly oppose any attempt to manipulate China-related issues, exploit China-U.S. relations and damage China’s interests during the elections. The U.S. side should stay undistracted by domestic politics, and avoid creating new hurdles for China-U.S. relations.   

Ambassador Xie pointed out that the U.S. side has used its Section 301 tariff review in an irresponsible way, and further stepped up tariffs on imports of electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, solar cells, critical minerals, semiconductors and other products from China. This is protectionism in the name of fair competition. The real aim is to contain China’s new energy sectors, hamper China’s high-quality development, and get advantage in the elections by competing to be tougher on China. But will it work? The fact is, six years after the U.S. side started the trade war, its trade deficit has surged, not declined, by $200 billion, and rising prices have driven up inflation. At the end of the day, it is American customers who are forced to pay the cost, American companies who suffer losses, and the international economic and trade order that gets rattled. Backpedaling in a globalized era will find no support. Escalating trade war, industrial war and tech war cannot stop China’s development, and will only backfire. 

Ambassador Xie stressed that the accusation of so-called “China’s overcapacity” is untenable. Comparative advantage is a basic tenet of economics. In an open market economy, countries leverage their respective strength in the international division of labor, and seek mutual benefit through global trade. If a country is accused of causing overcapacity simply because its products and services are high-quality, efficient and competitive, or because it produces more than what it needs for itself, then what is the point about international trade? The reason why China’s new energy products are so popular lies in continuous technological innovation, well-developed industrial and supply chains, sufficient market competition and our people’s hard work. In the global green transition, Chinese electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaic products are much-needed high-quality capacity. They have not only met China’s domestic demand, but also helped to address the shortage in the supply of new energy products globally, and contributed significantly to energy conservation and emissions reduction in the world. Why should such high-quality capacity which benefits all be contained?