China 'very disappointed' with Europe's planned investment restrictions

Beijing is "very disappointed" with plans in Europe to restrict investment from China, Chinese diplomat Qu Xun told a conference in Madrid on Wednesday, warning that such measures would push China to "close its door" to Europe.



In unusually candid public remarks for a Chinese official, Qu, the commercial representative at China's embassy in Spain, said the "controls, limitations, and sanctions by Europe towards China in the past three months make us very disappointed."



"Such measures push us into corners, to react and close the door. It changes the Chinese mentality," he said, speaking on a panel at an event at Madrid's IESE Business School, adding that China had always viewed Europe as a region with an "open mind". The European Parliament is in the early stages of passing legislation setting strict rules over European Union control and ownership of manufacturing in critical industries and limiting "high-risk" suppliers in cybersecurity, upsetting China.