China Leveraging EVs for ‘Geostrategic’ Aims, MPs Told, as Canada Ramps Up Imports

Electric cars for export waiting to be loaded on the "BYD Explorer NO.1," a domestically manufactured vessel intended to export Chinese automobiles, at Yantai port, in eastern China's Shandong Province, on Jan. 10, 2024. AFP via Getty Images

A former Canadian diplomat and China expert told MPs that Chinese electric vehicles can be sold at a low price because the real return Beijing seeks is not financial but “geostrategic.”

Charles Burton, a senior fellow with think tank Sinopsis, testified at the House of Commons science and research committee on April 20 and provided his assessment of some of the risks posed by Chinese electric vehicles (EVs).