Expert says proposed EU move for trade strike-back is protectionism

France and Germany have proposed the European Union

reinforce its economy by enacting a new rapid-action measure to strike

back against countries that may harm it, with China the most likely

the focus of their proposal.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich

Merz wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

on Monday, 10 days before EU leaders are to discuss Chinese

trade imbalances at a Brussels summit.

They said "systemic market-distorting practices" jeopardise

the bloc's economy and industrial base, requiring urgent action.

Global Times, quoting a Chinese trade expert, criticised the move

as unilateral and would not solve the EU's declining industrial

competitiveness but would instead undermine the mutually-beneficial

China-EU economic and trade relations.

Jian Junbo, from Fudan University's Institute of International Studies,

said European officials are "proposing to replicate the very weapon

they once denounced," and "it constitute a classic unilateral

protectionist measure."