China on Thursday said that the investigations conducted by the European Union (EU) into Chinese firms constituted "unfair trade and investment barriers."

The announcement from China's Commerce Ministry followed the completion of a probe into the EU's examination of foreign subsidies.

The Chinese investigation came in response to Brussels looking into whether Chinese government subsidies hurt competition in Europe.

The two economic powers have been at loggerheads mainly due to Beijing's renewables and electric vehicle sectors.

Beijing says EU trade practices led to major losses

The Commerce Ministry said the EU's Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) discriminates against Chinese firms.

China's Commerce Ministry concluded that "selective enforcement" led to "Chinese products being treated worse than products from other countries."

It also said the FSR had "vague" criteria for investigating foreign subsidies, placed a "heavy burden" on targeted companies, and had unclear procedures creating "great uncertainty."

The ministry claimed that EU measures like surprise inspections "went too far," and investigators were "subjective and arbitrary" about market distortion.

According to the ministry, the FSR regulations caused losses of over 15 billion yuan (€1.94 billion).

The statement did not mention any steps Beijing plans to take in response. There was no immediate reaction from the European Union. 

mfi/lo (AFP, Reuters)