China 'stops at nothing to have upper hand in trade dispute'

Chinese government enlists military hackers to steal key data from producer seeking level playing field.

The US government has today (20 May) published information according to which the American subsidiary of SolarWorld was a central victim of massive hacking attacks by Chinese military personnel. SolarWorld is the main domestic producer responsible for the launch of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations of Chinese solar imports in the US.

Other companies that have exposed the dumping practices of Chinese producers and subsidy practices of the Chinese government, for example, the steel industry, have also been targets of Chinese cyber attacks. Obviously, China has targeted and tried to damage the companies for exercising their right to request action against unfair competition. Also in the context of the European trade actions against imports of Chinese solar products, China has applied massive pressure through various means. These range from cyber attacks  and retaliatory duties to the simple blackmailing of member states.

Milan Nitzschke, President of EU Prosun : "China is unfortunately still not a reliable trading partner, but acts like a petty criminal who uses any means, legal or illegal, to exclude competitors.  It appears that it will be a long while before China realizes that true sustainable growth is only possible through fair trade relations. In the meantime, it is now critical that the EU and the United States use available means to counter the illegal Chinese activities. Europe has to carefully and strictly monitor the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures in place and industrial espionage must be decisively punished."

Nitzschke concluded: “The Chinese military targeted strategic US businesses with interests in the steel, nuclear and renewable energy sectors.  The EU is China's biggest trading partner, larger than the US, so it can be assumed that China has also been targeting European companies to steal their most trade secrets and intellectual property.  EU ProSun calls on the EU to urgently investigate China’s new trade weapons of cyber-espionage and cyber theft.”

Since its foundation in 2012, the industry initiative EU ProSun has promoted a strong European solar industry, fair competition and the sustainable development of solar power. It represents over 40 solar manufacturers in Europe.

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