We revisit the impact of rising imports from China on within firm labour productivity growth in the EU. The period analysed
is 2003 through 2016 and thus covers the recent increase of technology-intensive imports from China. We find that higher fractions
of Chinese imports in aggregate imports slow down labour productivity growth of domestic firms in Europe. The adverse effect
becomes more pronounced at higher growth rates. Multinationals are able to partly compensate the negative effects of import
competition and benefit from Chinese imports at higher productivity growth intensities. The effects are strongest for local
firms and firms in low tech industries. No effects were found for firms in high-tech industries.
JEL-Codes:F14, L20, L60, J24
Keywords:Import Competition, Multinational Firms, Productivity, Manufacturing, EU, China
Forschungsbereich:Industrieökonomie, Innovation und internationaler Wettbewerb