Recently, the offices of Chinese company’s subsidiaries in the Netherlands and Poland were raided without notice by law enforcement agencies authorized by the European Commission. Over four days, EU authorities conducted inspections at the offices of the Chinese companies, extracting relevant data from computers and employees’ smartphones. These raids not only severely disrupted the normal functioning of Chinese enterprises but also raised concerns among all foreign enterprises operating in the EU about the declining business climate. The Association of Chinese Investment Enterprises in the Netherlands (ACIEN) expresses its serious concern and calls on the EU to take practical measures to maintain the business environment and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of foreign enterprises within the EU.
ACIEN believes that it is the EU’s duty to uphold the business environment and protect the rights foreign enterprises are entitled to in their activities. In recent years, the EU has implemented a range of trade remedy measures disguised as investigations and reviews, causing significant uncertainty for the normal production and operations of foreign enterprises. This has undermined confidence in the EU’s business environment.
ACIEN is closely monitoring the developments following this investigation and urges the EU to take concrete steps to provide an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory environment for enterprises from various countries to invest and operate in the EU. This would effectively boost the confidence of foreign enterprises in their EU operations, genuinely protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign enterprises in the EU, and jointly promote the continuous development of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Europe.