Brussels’ competition chief is examining ways of curbing unfair competition from foreign state-owned enterprises, as EU member states urge closer scrutiny of Chinese investment on the continent.

Margrethe Vestager, the competition commissioner, said some foreign companies were able to use government backing to gain an advantage when acquiring European rivals. She said the commission was looking at possible responses, including proposals for sweeping new powers submitted by the Dutch government. 

“We found that there was a gap if, for instance, a state-owned company buys a European company and can pay anything if they want to because other potential buyers are bidding against state coffers,” Ms Vestager told the Financial Times. “We are in the process of trying to figure out what to do about that.”