Great Wall Motor, a Chinese automaker, said it has formally filed its comments to the anti-subsidy inquiry that the European Commission is conducting into Chinese-made electric cars (EVs) while also appealing for a fair and open trading environment.

The European Union (EU) is striving to lessen its reliance on the world’s second-largest economy as part of its transition to a greener economy. This is one factor that is contributing to the rising tension between China and the EU. Another factor is Beijing’s tighter connections with Moscow in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

On Monday, the head of the automobile manufacturer said, “We need a fair and open trade environment,” on his social media account on the platform Weibo. “We have the confidence to win the competition globally.”

He said that Great Wall was the first carmaker to respond to questions posed by the European Commission on October 11th.

“Europe is one of the key strategic markets for Great Wall Motor,” Mu said, adding that the business has huge ambitions for the region, having begun site selection processes for a factory there, envisaging complete capabilities from manufacturing to sales. “Europe is one of the key strategic markets for Great Wall Motor,” Mu said. “Great Wall Motor has a lot of big plans for the region.”

Tuesday’s request for the Chinese corporation’s remark was not met with an immediate response from the company.

The German journal Automobilwoche reported in May that Great Wall Motor intends to construct a facility in Europe and that Germany was one of the countries under consideration for the plant’s location.

This month, Brussels launched an inquiry to determine whether or not to establish tariff barriers against what the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has described as a flood of cheaper Chinese electric vehicle imports that benefit from state subsidies.

It is investigating electric vehicles produced in China by Chinese manufacturers as well as those produced by international companies such as Tesla (TSLA.O), BMW (BMWG.DE), and Renault (RENA.PA).

China has voiced its displeasure with the “very short” time frame that the EU has allotted for comments on the investigation, claiming that it does not have sufficient evidence and does not adhere to the guidelines set down by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

European automakers are in a race against China to produce cheaper electric vehicles (EVs), especially because Chinese manufacturers like BYD (002594. SZ), Xpeng (9868. HK), and Nio (9866. HK) are looking to extend their operations in other countries.

According to numbers compiled by the automotive industry for the first nine months of 2018, Great Wall Motor achieved a ranking of eighth place in China for sales of plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles.