Peter Mandelson, the European Trade Commissioner, will tell the Chinese authorities this week that the obstacles faced by European companies operating in China are “unacceptable” and violate world trade rules.

The criticism comes on the eve of a series of high-profile meetings between Chinese and European politicians and officials over the next two days, culminating in the annual bilateral summit in Beijing on Wednesday.

Mr Mandelson, speaking to The Times from Shanghai, said: “I’m not here to bash and I can’t bully – but I can explain why it is unacceptable to receive European goods and investment when they are needed and to raise obstacles when they are not.

“There is growing frustration in Europe that Chinese regulatory policy is increasingly nationalistic and being used against European companies, even though they like doing business in China and are committed to the country.”

The European Commission estimates that €20 billion (£14.4 billion) in trade opportunities are lost every year because of politically motivated barriers and discrimination against European companies.

When the two sides met in June, Mr Mandelson told the Chinese that their relationship was at a crossroads and that Beijing had to match Europe’s commitment towards shared prosperity and a successful strategic partnership.

“For the past three years, I have committed myself to strong cooperation and dialogue, but I find the dialogue is endless and effective action has not started. I do not feel our cooperation has got better since June,” Mr Mandelson said at the weekend, clearly frustrated at the lack of progress.

The Commissioner will spend the next two days emphasising that China must respect its World Trade Organisation (WTO) obligations, take concrete measures to improve market access for European Union exporters and protect European companies from intellectual property theft.

He pointed out that despite a WTO commitment to an open market, China has awarded fewer than ten telecoms licences to European companies out of the 20,000 that it has granted over the past six years. In addition, whereas foreign companies held 6 per cent of China’s construction sector before the country joined the WTO in 2001, now they have only 1 per cent.

A recent survey of European companies in China by the European Chamber of Commerce reinforces the view that they are operating in a more difficult environment now than six years ago. More than 50 per cent of the respondents were sceptical about implementation of WTO obligations, while 34 per cent maintained that China’s WTO membership had had a negative impact on their business, compared with only 16 per cent who said that it had been positive.

Mr Mandelson will underline the need for stronger protection of European companies’ intellectual property rights after seven out of ten businesses operating in China reported that they had had serious problems with property theft last year.

European manufacturers have estimated that such infringements cost them one euro out of every five they earn, while China was also the source of 83 per cent of the counterfeit goods the EU seized last year.

The Commissioner said that the Chinese authorities were stepping up action to protect intellectual property rights, but he maintained that the courts did not have enough resources and that the moves were largely for the benefit of Chinese manufacturers. “It is a question of political will, resources and capacity, and also discrimination,” he said. “The State is taking stronger action on intellectual property, but on behalf of Chinese companies rather than European ones.”

Along with the other senior European officials in China this week, Mr Mandelson will tell the Chinese that the country’s huge trade surplus with Europe is no longer tenable. While EU exports to China grew by 21 per cent last year, the Union still exports less to China than to Switzerland, largely due to the regulatory and other obstacles.

This month the Commissioner said that the EU-China trade deficit was growing by $20 million every hour.

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