Chinese green tech firms chase deals at fair despite tariffs threat

Makers of EVs, solar panels keeping up efforts to sell to EU, US markets

- Joyce ZK Lim

China's green technology companies gathered last week at the country's biggest trade fair to chase new export deals, even as the industry finds itself in the cross hairs of American and European leaders who complain an oversupply of cheap Chinese goods is hurting their producers.

Shiny electric vehicles (EVs), sheets of solar panels and lithiumion batteries of all shapes and sizes were among the wares lining the halls of the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, in a space 12 times the size of the Singapore Expo.

This spring edition of the biannual fair runs from April 15 to May 5, with the green tech firms here for the first five days.

Despite the spectre of fresh tariffs following from the US and European Union's complaints, company representatives at the fair appeared unfazed, claiming that they expected sales in 2024 to reach a post-pandemic high. They are keeping up efforts to sell to these markets, as well as to buyers around the world, they said.

Europe, especially, is a coveted market for many Chinese sellers given its sizeable demand for clean energy products.

Dayun Group, a Chinese carmaker from Shanxi province, will soon have an EV entering the European market, said a business manager for the company. Currently, its main markets for EVs include Mexico and Myanmar.

While acknowledging that "there might be worries" that the EU might make it difficult for Chinese products to be sold in the European market, he added that "consumers do want to purchase", with buyers from Europe having surveyed the model on display at the fair.

In 2023, the EU launched an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese EVs that could lead to the bloc imposing additional tariffs on EV imports from China.