Lithuania’s exports to China suffered a near-total collapse in December last year, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Friday.
Shipments from Lithuania to China dropped by 91.4 percent last month, compared to a year before, according to the Chinese government customs data released on Thursday.
The drop in December was 91.1 from a month before, backing reports by Lithuanian businesses that they had trouble exporting to China.
Lithuania angered China when it allowed Taiwan to open a representative office under its name in Vilnius. Beijing views the self-ruling island as part of China and says Lithuania’s move has violated the so-called One China principle.
Lithuanian goods worth around 3.35 million euros entered China in December 2021, compared to 38 million euros a year before and 37.7 million euros in November 2021, when the Taiwanese office opened in Vilnius.
Exports that were completely wiped out included unwrought copper-zinc alloy, Lithuania’s top export a year earlier, and wood products such as fir, another top-five export.
Sales of hi-tech lasers, previously Lithuania’s second-largest sector exporting to China, fell by 95 percent in December 2021, compared to a year before. Sales of diagnostic reagents decreased by 98 percent, while peat shipments tumbled by 92 percent.
According to SCMP’s EU sources, Beijing continues to deny a coordinated campaign against Lithuania, saying that businesses have decided not to buy goods from countries that have “attacked China’s sovereignty”.
Lithuania is one of the EU member states least dependent on trade with China.
But China has also turned against multinationals, pressuring them to drop Lithuanian suppliers or face exclusion from the Chinese market.
Companies from Germany, France, and Sweden have reported that their goods have been stopped at Chinese ports because they contained parts made in Lithuania, according to SCMP.
German companies have reportedly been pressuring Lithuanian leaders to back down in a dispute with China.
But Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has said that backing down was not in the government’s plans and that it was collecting evidence of Beijing’s pressure that will be submitted to the World Trade Organisation.
Read more: German firms pressure Lithuania to deescalate China tensions – media
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