Western trade barriers against Chinese EVs counterproductive: Nobel laureate

Trade barriers placed by the United States and European countries against Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) are counterproductive and should be removed to restore free trade, said Eric Maskin, a Nobel laureate in economics, in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) that was aired Friday.

China has been the global leader in EV for nine consecutive years, with both production and sales of its new energy vehicles exceeding 9 million units in 2023.

Maskin attributed China's current leading position in EV production to its notion of developing new quality productive forces, which follows the trend of the times.

"I think it makes a lot of sense. The technology that was dominant in the 20th century is being replaced by the technology of the 21st century. And it makes a lot of sense for China to be out in front of that and putting its investment and its resources into this new technology. For example, I mentioned electric cars. A while ago, China has become a world leader in the production of electric cars, which I think makes a lot of sense. They've made wise investment to go in that direction, because the world is going to need those electric cars," Maskin said.

The United States announced on May 14 this year a sharp increase in its Section 301 tariffs on Chinese EVs from 25 percent to 100 percent.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, introduced provisional duties of up to 37.6 percent on Chinese EVs in early July.

Calling these moves counterproductive, Maskin called for the removal of the barriers and the restoration of free trade.

"From the standpoint of international trade and cooperation, I think placing barriers to that trade is counterproductive, so that makes me unhappy to see this interference. My hope is that the barriers will be removed and we will have a, we will restore free trade once again. Perhaps I'm being over optimistic here, but that I think would be the happiest outcome. In other words, I see the interference with free trade as temporary rather than permanent," he said.

Western trade barriers against Chinese EVs counterproductive: Nobel laureate

Western trade barriers against Chinese EVs counterproductive: Nobel laureate

Hubei released China's first pricing program for medical services with brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies this week, accelerating the cutting-edge sci-tech's pace entering people's livelihood.

The Healthcare Security Administration of Hubei Province set the maximum prices for the implantation and removal of an invasive BCI implant at 6,552 yuan (about 899.7 U.S. dollars) and 3,139 yuan respectively, and the highest price for a non-invasive BCI adaptation service at 966 yuan.

The BCI technologies are bringing revolutionary changes in the treatments of many patients, according to Professor Jiang Xiaobing with the neurosurgery department under the Union Hospital affiliated to the Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

"For patients with hemiplegia, blindness, or aphasia, we can use BCIs to restore some of their physiological functions. And we can also use BCI technologies to treat patients with Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, or Alzheimer's disease. And currently we don't have very effective therapies to cope with these diseases. So BCIs are bringing hopes for these patients," said Jiang.

"The next three to five years are a critical period in our development of BCI technologies. Their applications to the treatments of, say, cancers and paralyses are definitely different, so relevant products have to go through corresponding procedures (before entering the end market)," said Jiang.

In March, the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) released a pricing guideline for neural system care services, specifying BCIs in an independent category.

According to the NHSA, this move aims to boost the clinical application of the cutting-edge technology to benefit patients in need, against the backdrop of BCIs' rapid development in recent years.

The guideline also outlines the pricing of invasive and non-invasive BCIs respectively based on the distinctive features of the two BCI approaches.

The guideline will pave the way for the swift translation of mature BCI technology into clinical use in the future, and offer a compass for localities nationwide to manage relevant medical services, said the NHSA.

China's first medical service pricing for brain-computer interfaces issued