China slams U.S. claims of 'overcapacity'

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin. (Photo/fmprc.gov.cn)

The accusation made by the United States of China's "overcapacity" in the new energy sector is a "complete deviation from facts", China said, slamming the U.S. for practicing protectionism.

"China's capacity in the new energy industry is an advanced capacity urgently needed by the green transition of the world economy. It's not overcapacity," Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday.

Wang made the comments at a regular news conference, dismissing U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's remarks.

Yellen said in Germany on Tuesday that China's industrial capacity is "leading to production that significantly exceeds global demand in key sectors, including electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and solar", and that this will be a focus on the Group of Seven meetings in Italy this week.

In response, Wang said the U.S. accusation is protectionist in nature.

If overcapacity means an increase in exports, "don't the large annual exports of soybeans, planes and natural gas by the U.S. constitute overcapacity?" he said.

Setting up barriers

The U.S. is trying to coerce G7 member countries into setting up barriers against China's new energy products under the pretext of "overcapacity", Wang said.

"This goes against the trend of openness and win-win cooperation, not only harming the interests of consumers in related countries, but also disrupting and undermining the global green transition," the spokesman said.

Wang called on the U.S. to abandon protectionism to better address climate change.

The U.S. should not ask China to take on more responsibility to respond to climate change on the one hand, while engaging in protectionism and stopping the world from benefiting from China's green products on the other, he said.

The growth of China's new energy sector is a result of its companies' technological development and open competition, Wang said, adding that China hopes to deepen supply chain cooperation with all other countries.

"We hope all countries will stick to open cooperation and reject protectionism," he said.