ChinaseekstreatmentcorrespondingtoitsroleasanactiveWTOmemberOvercapacityisagloballyprevalentissueresultingfromstimuluspoliciesinthewakeofthe2008financialcrisis.Itshouldbesolvedbynegotiation.There鈥檚noneedtorelatethisissuetoChina鈥檚marketeconomystatus.YaoLing,AssociateResearcher,ChineseAcademyofInternationalTradeandEconomicCooperationBackin2001China鈥檚admissiontotheWorldTradeOrganization(WTO)wasawatershedeventfortheorganization,itsmembersandChinaitself.December11,2016markedthe15thanniversaryofChina鈥檚admissiontotheWTO.Thecountryhassincebecomebetterintegratedwiththeglobaleconomyandgainedastrongfootholdinglobaltrade.Inadditiontobeingtheworld鈥檚secondlargesteconomy,Chinaisnowtheworld鈥檚largesttraderingoods,thesecondlargestdestinationforforeigninvestmentandthethirdlargestoutboundinvestor.China鈥檚forexreservesalsofaroutstripthatofanyothercountry.China鈥檚reformshavealwaysheadedtowardmoremarketorientation,andWTOmembershiphasbecomethemostsignificantdriverofthisprocess.Overthepast15years,ChinahasstrictlyadheredtoWTOrulesbygraduallyreducingtarifflevelsandbyJanuary1,2010,hadfulfilledallthetariffreductionpromisesitmadeinjoiningtheWTOaheadofschedule.Thenationhaslongbeenanadvocateoffreetrade,asevidencedbythefactthatithastodatesigned14freetradeagreementswith22countriesandregions.Overtheyears,tocomplywithWTOrules,Chinahasamendedmorethan2,300lawsandregulations,andrewrittenmorethan90,000localstatutes.Moreover,itactivelyparticipatesinsettingtherulesforglobaltradeandinsettlingtradedisputesonthebasisoftheserules.
XINHUAAworkerexaminessolarpanelsintheworkshopofaphotovoltaicproducerinXingtai,northChina鈥檚HebeiProvince
Greatcontributions
AccordingtoShuaihuaWallaceCheng,ManagingDirectorofICTSDChina,ChinahasmadegreatcontributionstotheWTO鈥檚multilateraltradingsystemaswellastoglobaleconomicgrowth.ICTSD-theInternationalCenterforTradeandSustainableDevelopment-isanindependent,non-profitorganizationbasedinGeneva,Switzerland.Chinatriestoactasabridgebetweendevelopedanddevelopingnations.Itpositionsitselfasacoordina-torandsupporterofdevelopingcountries鈥檌nterests,ChengtoldChinAfrica.WTODeputyDirectorGeneralDavidSharksaidthatthatsinceitsWTOaccession,Chinahassignificantlyincreasednationalincome,madegreatprogressinpovertyrelief,influencedeconomicgrowthinmanyregions,andmadevitalcontributionstoraisingincomesandlivingstandardsglobally.Chinanotonlyplaysakeyroleinglobalvaluechains,butalsoisacoreWTOmember,SharktoldreportersataseminarheldattheShanghaiWTOAffairsConsultationCenteronNovember9.TangXiaoyi,aBrussels-basedseniortradeadvisorwiththeEuropeanarmofgloballawfirmDentons,believesChinahasfulfilleditsWTOaccessioncommitments.AllofthecommitmentswereclearlydescribedintheadmissionprotocolofChinatotheWTO,thedocumentgoverningthenation鈥檚WTOentry.HadChinafailedtoimplementitspromises,theUnitedStatesandtheEUwouldhavesueditonmanyoccasions,whichhasnotactuallyhappened,TangtoldChinAfrica.TangsaidChinaisoneofthelargestbeneficiariesandcontributorsoftheWTO,asitsmembershipintheorganizationhassignificantlydrivenproductupgradesinChina.DisputescontinueAccordingtoChina鈥檚WTOadmissionprotocol,theuseofthe鈥渟urrogatecountry鈥漨ethodinanti-dumpinginvestigationsagainstChinaendedonDecember11.Underthesurrogatecountrymethod,authoritiesdeterminewhetherornottoimposetariffsonthebasisofreferencepricesinathirdcountryratherthanproductpricesintheexportingcountry.Asaresult,moreChineseproductsendupbeinginvestigated,andinmostcases,theyhavetopayhigheranti-dumpingdutiescomparedwithcountriesnotsubjecttothesurrogatecountrymethod.ButtheEuropeanCommissiononNovember8submittedtotheEuropeanCouncilandtheEuropeanParliamentanamendmentproposalonprotectionagainstdumpedimports.Intheproposal,theEUhasintroducedtheconceptof鈥渕arketdistortion,鈥漺hichwilltakemultiplecriteriaintoconsideration-statepoliciesandinfluence,theextenttowhichgovernment-ownedenterprisesoperateinthesector,discriminationinfavorofdomesticcompaniesandthedegreetowhichthefinancialsectorisindependent.AccordingtothenewEUproposal,thesurrogatecountrymethodwillstillbeusedincasesinvolvingcountriesfoundtohaveso-calledmarketdistortions.Chinahasexpresseditsdiscontentabouttheproposal.鈥淲ehavetakennoteofthis,andwehaveconcerns,鈥漵aidLuKang,SpokespersonoftheMinistryofForeignAffairs.LusaidChinaacknowledgestheEuropeanCommission鈥檚proposaltoremoveitfromthelistofnon-marketeconomycountries,whichreflectstheEU鈥檚willingnesstofulfillArticle15oftheAccessionProtocolofChinatotheWTO.鈥淢uchtoourregret,however,thenewmethodologyproposedbytheEU,whichreplacesthenon-marketeconomyconceptwiththatofmarketdistortion,failstouprootthepracticeofsurrogatecountry.Itonlygivesitanewcover.That鈥檚neitherathoroughimplementationofArticle15norcompliancewithWTOrules,鈥滾usaid.ThelatestEUproposalmainlytargetsChina,althoughthenewrulesmayalsobeusedagainstothercountries,accordingtoTang.TangsaidtheEUwasconcernedabouttheexpirationofArticle15.IftheEUstopsusingthesurrogatecountrymethodinanti-dumpinginvestigationsagainstimportedgoodsfromChina,anumberofindustries,includingironandsteel,ceramicsandphotovoltaics,willbearthebrunt,andaccordingtoareportbyEuropeanIndustries,closeto200,000Europeanswilllosetheirjobs,aprospectwhichsparkedmassiveprotestsinBrusselsinFebruary.TheEuropeanCommissionisunderlotsofpressureandcaughtinadilemma.Consequently,ithascreatedthemarketdistortionconcepttoprotectEuropeanindustriesmostvulnerabletoChineseexports,Tangsaid.AccordingtoCheng,theWTOitselfdoesnotactuallydefinethenatureofamarketeconomy.鈥淒omestictradelawshavecreatedtheconceptofmarketeconomystatusandthecriteriaforgrantingit.鈥漈heprotocol,however,doessaythat鈥渋nanyevent,鈥漌TOmembersmaynotusethesurrogatecountrymethodagainstChineseexportsbeyondthe15-yeartransitionperiodfollowingChina鈥檚WTOaccession.AccordingtoGermanAmbassadortoChinaMichaelClauss,positiveprogresswillbemadewithregardtoChina鈥檚marketeconomystatus.鈥淚thinkthingsaredevelopingtowardagooddirection,鈥滳lausstoldChinAfrica.鈥淚nthemeantime,theEUwillstrengthentraderemedymeasures.Overcapacityexistsglobally,includinginChina,thereforetheEUneedstotakesomeeffectivemeasurestofightagainstdumpinginsomeindustries.鈥滲utYaoLing,AssociateResearcherwiththeChineseAcademyofInternationalTradeandEconomicCooperation,disagreeswithClauss,sayingthatovercapacityshouldnotbeanexcusefornotabidingbytherules.鈥淥vercapacityisagloballyprevalentissueresultingfromstimuluspoliciesinthewakeofthe2008financialcrisis.Itshouldbesolvedbynegotiation.There鈥檚noneedtorelatethisissuetoChina鈥檚marketeconomystatusorwhetherornottoabidebysomeoftheprovisionsinitsWTOaccessionprotocol,鈥漎aosaid.By2015,theEUhadbeenChina鈥檚largesttradingpartnerfor11consecutiveyears,whileChinahadbeentheEU鈥檚secondlargesttradingpartnerfor12consecutiveyears.IftheEUcanfulfillitsobligationsstipulatedinArticle15andmaintainitsstatusasanadvocateforandleaderoffreetradewithintheWTO,itwillbeawin-winchoiceforbothChinaandtheEU,Yaosaid.CA