Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry (FM) on Wednesday urged the parties concerned to honor their commitment to openness and avoid politicizing trade issues and overstretching the concept of security, in response to the probe by the European Commission (EC) into the proposed acquisition of Anglo American's nickel business by a China-owned mining firm.
The EC announced on Tuesday (local time) that it had opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition by MMG, a company owned by China Minmetals Corp, according to an EC statement.
FM spokesperson Mao Ning said that, as a matter of principle, China has always supported its enterprises in pursuing practical cooperation across various sectors on the basis of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.
We hope the parties concerned will honor their commitment to openness, respect the principles of the market economy and fair competition, and refrain from avoid politicizing trade issues and overstretching the concept of security, Mao said. All countries should provide a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory business environment for enterprises.
The EC statement claimed that its preliminary investigation result found the transaction could enable MMG to divert Anglo American's ferronickel supply away from European stainless steel producers, possibly leading to an increase in their production costs and affecting their ability to compete.
However, a Chinese expert noted that normal cross-border mergers and acquisitions should not be subject to excessive intervention, and given the EU's longstanding bias in policies toward Chinese enterprises, the investigation warrants careful attention from the Chinese side.
MMG operates 38 mines in Asia, Oceania, South America and Africa, including 15 overseas sites, according to the company's official website. It engages in the exploration, development and production of base metals, primarily copper and zinc, for global industrial markets.
The investigation is still at an early stage and no conclusions have been drawn, but China has grounds to express concern and remain vigilant over the possibility that the EU's move may deviate from market principles and disrupt the stability of the business environment, Jian Junbo, director of the Center for China-Europe Relations at Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Normally, antitrust probes are launched in response to complaints from market competitors and then reviewed by regulators. In this case, however, no such complaint has surfaced, and the European Commission initiated the probe on its own, Jian added.
The acquisition itself is a standard market-based transaction. Yet because a Chinese company is involved, the EU quickly opened a probe, raising so-called concerns over security- and politics-driven motivations, Jian noted, saying that if the acquiring party was a US or European firm, such scrutiny might not have occurred.
Jian called on the EU to treat market-oriented corporate activity fairly, noting that amid intensifying geopolitical competition, the EU has increasingly politicized economic and trade issues involving China. Such actions not only harm Chinese companies, he said, but could also backfire on Europe's own industrial cooperation and economic prospects, and undermine global trade stability and supply chain security.
