France, July 21 -- The issue was pushed back to the top of the agenda when Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz agreed last week to draw up a "Franco-German roadmap" by September on how to respond to China's trade practices.

The push builds on a recent report, by France's High Commission for Planning, ominously called "The Chinese steamroller - quantifying the systemic threat to Europe's industrial base," which argues that Beijing's industrial rise now amounts to a "systemic shock" for Europe's manufacturing base.

The report says China's combination of scale, low production costs, heavy overcapacity and rapid technological upgrading is reshaping global manufacturing and eroding Europe's competitiveness.

Chinese investment in Europe hits ...