China's railway giant CRRC has withdrawn from a Lisbon metro contract after a European Commission probe found billions in subsidies gave it an unfair edge. A Polish firm, PESA, will replace it in the Mota-Engil-led consortium. The bid totals €598.8 million for the Portuguese capital's new Violet Line.
China's CRRC has been ousted from a Lisbon metro contract after the European Commission confirmed that foreign subsidies allowed it to underbid rivals. The probe under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) targeted CRRC Portugal's role as a subcontractor providing metro cars worth about €50 million.
"The in-depth investigation confirmed these preliminary findings, revealing that the subsidies in question had indeed given the consortium an unfair competitive edge, to the detriment of other bidders taking part in the tender and the integrity of the EU’s internal market," the European Commission said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Mota-Engil-led consortium, with the lowest bid of €598.8 million for constructing and maintaining Lisbon's new Violet Line, proposed replacing CRRC with Polish firm PESA, a change the Commission accepted to remove the distortion. The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) voiced strong opposition, arguing the EU failed to explain why a subcontractor holding less than 10% of the contract warranted action.
Lisbon Metro launched the tender in April 2025, with Brussels opening its in-depth probe in November. After CRRC Portugal withdrew and refused to share group information, an anonymous EU official said the Commission pressed on, fearing a backdoor re-entry via unchanged prices and specs.
