Job creator or industry killer? Europe’s EV sector faces Chinese investment dilemma

Eyebrows raised and brow furrowed into a puzzled smile, French President Emmanuel Macron held a model of a cleanly sculpted, sheer white truck. To his left, Wen Han, a 35-year-old Chinese entrepreneur, beamed through thick, black-rimmed glasses.

In Macron’s hand was a miniature Windrose electric lorry, its sleek, forward-leaning nose and central driving position evoking science fiction more than the gritty world of road haulage.

The Chinese company, founded by Han just three years ago, announced this week that it would build a €175 million (US$199 million) factory in northern France. Bigger investments and flashier names came to last week’s Choose France summit, but few were set against a geoeconomic backdrop as charged as Windrose Technology’s.

The European Union is locked in a trade dispute with China over electric vehicles. It is also wrestling with whether and how to harness Chinese investment in the sector. Around the continent, a debate is being waged on whether China’s prowess in the sector can be a job creator or an industry killer.

Han is certain it is the former.

“He told me he wants me to bring the whole ecosystem to France,” Han said in an interview, when asked what Macron told him.

Although only 30 Windrose trucks are on the roads worldwide, Han is ambitious. He wants to make 4,000 of them a year in France from 2027 and is eyeing an American plant too. He is already planning to float Windrose on a US stock exchange and told Macron he would like a secondary listing in France.

South China Morning Post