European proposal 'disappointing'
A proposal from the European Commission (EC) announced Wednesday is interpreted as ending China's non-market economy status, but the country feels disappointed that the EU has not completely recognized its market economy status (MES), a Chinese official said Thursday.
On Wednesday, the EC proposed a new way to evaluate whether Chinese manufacturers are exporting products such as steel at unfairly low prices in response to China's demand for change by the end of 2016, according to Reuters.
The proposal introduced the "significant distortions" clause but did not scrap China's surrogate country status, Shen Danyang, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), told a press conference in Beijing.
"It just allows the status to covertly continue," Shen said, noting that the new standard also does not comply with WTO rules.
Experts noted that EU put forward the new anti-dumping measures against China due to its reluctance to grant China MES, as the EU thinks that China has not done enough to qualify for MES.
China has strongly called on the EU and other WTO members to follow the promise they made when China joined the world body [in 2001] to grant the country MES by December 11.
In response to this pressure, the reformed trade defense was proposed to guard against China because the EU tends to avoid fierce competition from China across the globe and protects its own markets, noted Sang Baichuan, director of the Institute of International Business at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.
Sang told the Global Times on Thursday that if China is granted MES, then EU investigators cannot seek to pinpoint dumping by comparing Chinese export prices with those of a third-party country, and thus China's competitive edge will further show.
"They want China to make more compromise in other sectors in exchange for recognition of its market economy status," he said.
For example, China is expected to limit its steel exports and continue to make major efforts to cut its industrial overcapacity, according to Sang.
"However, if they propose overly harsh conditions, it would be not easy for China to accept," Sang said.
Shen noted that three principles should be highlighted. First, WTO members must end the surrogate country practice against China in anti-dumping cases after the deadline.
Second, the new standard should be fair, reasonable and transparent, and it should not be a new form of discrimination, Shen noted.
Third, after the deadline, WTO members should be fully in accordance with the general anti-dumping method instead of covertly continuing the surrogate country practice.
