(Reuters) -The European Commission said it has opened an investigation into possible market distortion by China’s state-owned CRRC in a bid for railway construction works in Portugal’s capital Lisbon.
Based on a preliminary inquiry, the Commission said it found that the Portuguese unit of the Chinese rolling stock manufacturer might have benefited from foreign subsidies in its participation in an April bid to build Lisbon’s new “violet” line, a surface stretch linked to the city’s underground.
The tender drew four offers ranging from 599 million euros ($698.55 million) to 716 million euros, according to the issuer Metropolitano de Lisboa, which has yet to pick the winner. It did not list any Chinese companies among the bidders.
Portugal CRRC Tangshan Rolling Stock did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
In a statement, the Commission said it had started an in-depth inquiry into CRRC under the bloc’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation regime following the preliminary findings, and would subsequently decide whether to accept remedies from the company, bar it from winning the bid, or decide not to object.
“Protecting our (EU) single market from distortions is essential to ensure fair competition, support companies that compete on merit, and safeguard the Union’s economic security,” European Commissioner for Industry Stephane Sejourne said.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi in Paris and Andrey Khalip in Lisbon; editing by Mark Heinrich)
