Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 24, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
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China may retaliate after the EU bars Chinese firms from medical device tenders, escalating trade tensions ahead of a key summit.
BEIJING (Reuters) -China could take steps against the European Union after the 27-member bloc barred Chinese firms from most public tenders for medical devices, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday, keeping trade tensions high ahead of a key summit next month.
The European Commission said on Friday that Chinese companies would be prevented from bidding for public tenders worth 60 billion euros ($69.63 billion) or more after concluding that EU firms are not given fair access in the China.
"The European side has persisted in using unilateral tools to build new protectionist barriers, which not only harms the interests of Chinese enterprises, but also seriously undermines fair competition," the ministry said in a statement.
"China will take necessary steps to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises."
The world's second- and third-largest economies are due to hold a leaders' summit in China next month, with EU tariffs on China-built electric vehicles, China's probe into EU brandy imports and export curbs on the export of rare earths on the agenda.
The EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called for a "dose of realism" in EU-China ties, in comments made to reporters on Monday in Brussels, and accused China of employing coercive trade practices and carrying out cyberattacks against the EU.
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(Reporting by Liz Lee and Joe Cash; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Rachna Uppal)
The European Commission barred Chinese companies from bidding for public tenders worth 60 billion euros or more.
China's commerce ministry stated that it would take necessary steps to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.
The ban is seen as a unilateral protectionist measure by the EU, which could harm Chinese enterprises and undermine fair competition.
The leaders' summit is scheduled to take place in China next month.
Kaja Kallas called for a 'dose of realism' in EU-China relations and accused China of employing coercive trade practices.
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