Austria's former president Heinz Fischer told CGTN that a functioning free market is "better than limitations, boycotts, higher tariffs and trade obstacles."

In July, the European Union imposed duties on Chinese BEV (battery electric vehicle) makers such as BYD ranging from 17.4 percent up to 37.6 percent. The EU commission says that the BEV value chain in China benefits from unfair subsidisation, which is causing a threat of economic injury to EU BEV producers.

"In the European Union there is the opinion privately prevailing that we must do everything that European technology is not used in China, without that we can use Chinese technology in Europe in the same way and in the same amount," Fischer added.

During the interview with CGTN, which took place on September 19 in Vienna, Heinz Fischer also looked back on his many visits to China honouring the 75th anniversary of the People's Republic. Austria was one of the first countries in the Western world to start having diplomatic relations with China in 1971.

"We wanted to learn more about China…cooperation with the country where the development of economy and therefore the wealth of the people and the rise of the working class and the peasants was the main goal. So for me, this was a promise, and the promise was on a good road in the next years," Fischer told CGTN.

The 85-year-old social democrat was president of the Austrian republic from 2004 to 2016 and is the head of the Austrian Society for Chinese Studies.

"I believe that Europe as a whole, and Austria in particular, is very much interested in good relations to Chinese culture," he said.

"If the political relations would be as good as the cultural relations, we could be very happy and we could sleep well, and could rely on a good future."

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