China's electric vehicle (EV) industrial chain is highly competitive, Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, said on Thursday, urging the EU to take an objective view of the industry's development.

Cui made the comments in a post on his own WeChat account, responding to an EU anti-subsidy probe into Chinese EVs.

The EU could not arbitrarily use unilateral economic or trade tools to prevent development of EV products in Europe or increase their operating costs, Cui wrote.

The price of China-made cars exported to Europe is generally almost double the domestic price, he said, adding that China's strong EV exports is not the outcome of hefty state subsidies. (Reporting by Qiaoyi Li and Brenda Goh; Editing by Kim Coghill)