China rejects EU plea for voluntary curbs on hybrid car exports, FT reports

China has rejected the European Union’s request for voluntary curbs on hybrid car exports, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, as the two sides enter the final stretch of negotiations to avoid a trade conflict.

The European Commission now hopes to get Beijing to accept a unilateral EU measure capping hybrid imports instead, the newspaper added, citing two diplomats briefed on the plan. Reuters said it could not independently verify the FT report.

The rejection is a marked escalation. Brussels had asked Beijing in September to voluntarily limit Chinese hybrid vehicles to around 15 per cent of the EU market. An EU official told the FT at the time: “If they will not limit their exports to our market then we will,” adding: “This is about stopping deindustrialisation. We have to act. It’s about managed trade.”

The push reflects mounting alarm over the EU’s goods trade deficit with China, which hit €360.6 billion ($413.4 billion) last year and widened by 9 per cent in the first half of 2026. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called the deficit “unsustainable” and warned Europe is experiencing a second “China shock” of deindustrialisation.

Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic has said he wants tangible results by October and is expected to visit China by early next month. Brussels says the export surge is driven by overcapacity; Beijing dismisses the criticism as protectionist.