China Rejects OECD Report on Subsidies, Citing 'One-Sided' Findings
Quick Look
China has rejected an OECD report claiming its firms receive significantly higher government subsidies than international peers, calling the findings "one-sided and arbitrary." The Ministry of Commerce stated the report lacks a unified standard and overlooks China's competitive advantages.
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Why It Matters
Industrial policy is a major point of contention in global trade, especially in hi-tech and strategic sectors. China's firms are accused of receiving higher government subsidies than international peers, leading to trade frictions with the EU.
The dispute comes as industrial policy becomes a major point of contention in global trade, particularly in hi-tech and strategic sectors
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Published: 5:00pm, 4 Jun 2026
China has rejected a recent OECD report that said its firms receive far higher government subsidies than international peers, calling the findings “one-sided and arbitrary” at a time when EU concerns over Beijing’s industrial policy are intensifying.
“The report’s definition of ‘subsidies’ lacks a unified standard and statistical framework, and deviates from consensus under multilateral frameworks such as the World Trade Organization,” the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Thursday.
“It attributes the rise in Chinese firms’ global market share solely to government subsidies, while overlooking their real competitive advantages in economies of scale, production efficiency and technological upgrading.”
The comments came in response to an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report published on Monday, which found Chinese firms had received three to eight times more government subsidies than their global competitors. State support had accounted for nearly 60 per cent of their gains in overseas market share in recent years, the report stated.
Drawing on the OECD’s “Manufacturing Groups and Industrial Corporations” database, it identified solar panels, semiconductors, aluminium, steel and shipbuilding as the top five recipients of subsidies among 15 sectors tracked.
Many of these sectors have been at the centre of trade frictions between China and the European Union, which have soared in recent weeks after the European Commission agreed to adopt a tougher approach to addressing imbalances and Beijing vowed to retaliate.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Further trade investigations or measures by the EU against Chinese firms in subsidized sectors.
Likely · Within months
China may lodge a formal complaint at the WTO regarding subsidy definitions.
Possible · Within months
Open Questions
- Will the EU adopt further measures against Chinese firms?
- What specific retaliatory actions might China take?
- How will the WTO address disputes over subsidy definitions?
- What is the actual impact of these subsidies on global market competition?
