In early March 2026, European industrial policy sent another signal that deserves close attention from the global manufacturing sector. The European Commission has unveiled a new legislative proposal—the **Industrial Acceleration Act**. In terms of policy wording, the core objective of this Act is to accelerate the low-carbon transition of Europe’s industrial system through public procurement and public funding support mechanisms, while enhancing domestic industrial competitiveness and supply chain security. On the surface, this appears to be merely an industrial policy of the EU in the context of green transition. However, when viewed from the perspective of the global industrial landscape, this Act is more like a significant step in Europe’s reshaping of its industrial regulatory framework. For Chinese manufacturing enterprises that are actively entering the European market, this means that the logic of competition in the European market is changing: competition is no longer confined to the product level, but is gradually shifting to competition at the industrial system level. According to information released by the European Commission, the policy will progressively embed the principles of "low-carbon priority" and "EU-made priority" into its public procurement system and public subsidy mechanisms. The policy covers a wide range of industries, from basic materials such as steel, cement, and aluminum in traditional industries to net-zero technology sectors in the new energy era, including batteries, photovoltaics, wind power, and heat pumps. At the same time, for certain strategic industrial projects with an investment value exceeding 100 million euros, if they involve industries with highly concentrated global production capacity, the EU may impose more explicit localization requirements, such as local employment, local supply chains, local technological capabilities, and industrial knowledge transfer. This policy direction is not isolated. Over the past few years, Europe has gradually strengthened similar logic across multiple industrial policy frameworks. For example, the EU’s previously introduced Net-Zero Industry Act and Critical Raw Materials Act all reflect Europe’s efforts to enhance the stability and security of its domestic industrial system through institutional design. The evolution of this series of policies indicates that Europe is progressively integrating climate policy, industrial policy, and supply chain security policy into a single policy framework. From the perspective of Chinese enterprises, the real impact of such policy changes is not on ordinary trade orders, but on eligibility to enter core projects of the European industrial system. A large number of European investment projects related to energy transition—such as new energy infrastructure construction, electric transportation system upgrades, urban energy network transformation, and green industrial transition projects—often rely on government budgets or public funding support. Enterprises that can access these project systems often secure long-term, stable orders and market space. Therefore, participation in the public procurement system effectively means access to Europe’s industrial investment cycle over the next 10 to 20 years. For a long time, the main mode for Chinese manufacturing enterprises to enter the European market has been the traditional export model: production in China, followed by entry into the European market through trade channels, and competition relying on product quality, cost advantages, and industrial scale. This model remains competitive in many consumer goods and general industrial sectors. However, as European industrial policy progressively strengthens localization requirements, this export-only model is gradually losing its edge in areas such as new energy equipment, automotive supply chains, advanced materials, and certain key industrial sectors. Based on Topu’s long-term experience in serving Chinese industrial enterprises’ expansion into Europe, an increasing number of European projects are systematically evaluating enterprises’ local industrial capabilities in Europe, in addition to product performance and price. For instance, whether an enterprise has established assembly or manufacturing capabilities in Europe, has local supply chain partners, can provide complete carbon footprint data, and can create employment and participate in the regional industrial ecosystem in Europe—these factors are increasingly becoming important evaluation criteria for participating in large-scale projects. Therefore, the true signal sent by this Act is not that the European market is closing, but that the rules of competition in the European market are changing. In the past, Chinese enterprises won orders through manufacturing efficiency and cost advantages; in the future, for projects involving public funds and strategic industries, whether an enterprise can become part of the European industrial system will become increasingly important. In this context, the logic of Chinese enterprises entering the European market also needs to gradually shift. A shift from a purely trade-oriented approach to an industry-oriented one has become a practical choice that more and more enterprises must face. Some enterprises are considering establishing assembly centers or regional production bases in Europe to meet localization requirements; some are entering local industrial networks through cooperation with European engineering companies or system integrators; others are laying out industries in Central and Eastern European countries to gradually build manufacturing capabilities for the European market. From the perspective of changes in the global industrial structure, this trend is not unique to Europe. As the global supply chain landscape continues to adjust, major economies are strengthening domestic manufacturing capabilities through industrial policies. In this process, the globalization model of Chinese enterprises is also transforming: gradually moving from the "product go global" model dominated by trade to the "system go global" model centered on industrial layout. In the global manufacturing competition of the next decade, an enterprise’s ability to establish a stable industrial presence in different regions will increasingly become a key component of its competitiveness. The European market remains one of the world’s most important industrial markets and continues to be open to technology, capital, and industrial cooperation. However, for Chinese enterprises, the question they truly need to rethink is no longer whether they can enter the European market, but how to participate in the development of the European market with a new industrial identity. For Chinese manufacturing enterprises advancing their global layout, changes in European industrial policy may only be the beginning. As green transition, industrial security, and technological competition continue to intersect, the regulatory system of global manufacturing is entering a new phase. In this phase, those who can understand the policy logic earlier and adjust their industrial layout proactively will be more likely to gain an advantageous position in the future global industrial landscape. This represents an important strategic transformation that Chinese manufacturing enterprises must face in their journey toward globalization.