China Takes Swipe At Major Trading Partners

By Agence France-Presse China May 20 lashed out at major foreign trade partners, including the United States and the European Union, for using technical barriers that discriminate against Chinese trade and investment. The Ministry of Commerce, in an annual report reviewing commercial relations with its 19 biggest trading partners, said foreign trade partners use a variety of protectionist measures to keep mainland companies and products at bay. The report blames their use of technical standards, quarantine and quality inspections, intellectual property rights, customs procedures, environmental protection and labor standards as a bar to Chinese exports and investment. Many countries, however, see China as one of the world's worst infringers of global trading rules, protectionist and a violater of intellectual property rights at home while dumping products abroad. According to a recent World Trade Organization (WTO) report, China topped a list of countries that have triggered anti-dumping investigations on their exports in the six months to June last year. The 19 countries or regions cited in the report accounted for 70% of China's total foreign trade worth $851.2 billion last year of which exports made up $438.37 billion. They include Australia, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Vietnam. Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2004