China condemns protectionism amid EU trade row

China on Tuesday called on France and Germany to steer clear of "protectionist" trade measures after their leaders urged the European Union to develop a legal arsenal for a potential trade war. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that "we need a credible instrument" for swift and decisive action. This includes the ability to cut off access to the European single market "if needed", according to the letter seen by AFP on Monday. Macron and Merz stopped short of explicitly naming China but their letter comes just days before EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic heads to Beijing to tackle trade frictions. In a statement on Tuesday, the Commerce Ministry in Beijing urged France and Germany to "refrain from encouraging the EU to resort to protectionist tools at every turn". "We hope that France and Germany, as major economies in the world, will uphold openness, cooperation and free trade," the ministry said. "They should avoid going down the wrong path in the wrong way, only to ultimately suffer the consequences themselves." The Foreign Ministry, also responding to the leaders' letter on Tuesday, called the economic and trade relationship between China and the EU...