FROM EXPORT TO LOCALIZED PRODUCTION: CHINA'S FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT STRATEGY IN THE EUROPEAN GREEN-TECHNOLOGY MARKET UNDER TARIFF PRESSURE

This article examines the strategic transformation of Chinese green-technology and electric-vehicle companies in the European Union market - namely their shift from direct exports to localized production through foreign direct investment. The study analyses the EU's definitive anti-subsidy countervailing duties of October 2024, which raised the total import duty on Chinese-made battery electric vehicles to as much as 45.3%, the resulting surge of Chinese greenfield FDI into Europe, and the new “price undertaking” introduced in 2026. Using the OLI paradigm, the Uppsala model and tariff-jumping FDI theory, the paper argues that Chinese firms are not merely circumventing tariffs but embedding a localized industrial ecosystem within Europe. The findings carry practical implications for Uzbekistan's green-energy strategy and its cooperation with Chinese technology suppliers.