EU's protectionist moves detrimental to mutually beneficial partnership

In the latest sign that protectionism has reared its ugly head in Europe, the European Commission has launched an investigation into China's public procurement of medical devices, purportedly to determine if European suppliers of devices have been given fair access in the country.

The probe, the first under the European Union International Procurement Instrument, could lead to the bloc imposing restrictions on Chinese medical device companies bidding in EU public tenders if there is substantial evidence to support the claims by some European companies that they are being treated unfairly in China in terms of market access.

The investigation was launched on Wednesday, just a day after the European Commission raided Chinese security equipment company Nuctech's Dutch and Polish offices — seizing its IT equipment and employees' mobile phones — on the pretext that the company, which makes airport, freight and baggage scanners, has received unfair State subsidies which put its EU peers at a disadvantage.