The EU is about to make it much harder for Chinese firms to win European public contracts, which is good for European industry and bad for Chinese exporters.

• New procurement rules land on the 9th, using the EU's €2.5 trillion public-contract market as an economic weapon.
• Governments would have to force suspiciously cheap bidders to explain their prices, and throw them out if they can't.
• The rules never name China, but Brussels has long accused Beijing of subsidising its firms and choking off critical minerals.
• Contracts touching key infrastructure, supply chains, and technology get judged on security too, including spying and cyber attack risk.
• It follows an earlier EU law with local-content rules that Beijing already called discrimination.

Outlook: Expect a sharp reaction from Beijing and more friction as EU-China trade tensions keep building.