Brussels, 14/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 14 July, in Beijing during a visit to China, Commissioner De Gucht reiterated Europe's grievances regarding the insufficient opening of the Chinese market. Despite the recent WTO ruling against Chinese restrictions on exports of raw materials, China does not seem to fear litigation over rare earth materials. It does, however, agree to negotiate a bilateral agreement on investment.
Despite being defeated at the WTO over its raw materials export restrictions, China does not fear dispute when it comes to rare earths, the group of 17 minerals that are essential for the manufacture of high-tech products. “I am not worried because we have already had some negotiation with the EU”, said China's Trade Minister Chen Deming after his meeting with Karel De Gucht on Thursday 14 July. “What we've been saying is that we want to see applied to rare earth materials the principles that have guided the WTO panel when making the judgement on the raw material case”, the trade commissioner said for his part. Nonetheless, the promise made that same day by China to double its rare earth export quota during the second half of the year did not meet European expectations. “A first analysis of China's rare earth quota announced today shows that there is no noticeable change in the annual amount of rare earth China will allow to be exported to the EU. However, there is a change in the number of products covered by the quota: ferro-alloys has been added, which in practical terms results in a tightening of a quota as more products need to get hold of the same amount. This is highly disappointing and the EU continues to encourage the Chinese authorities to revisit their export restrictions policy to ensure there is full, fair, predictable and non-discriminatory access to rare earth supplies as well as other raw materials”, De Gucht's services commented that afternoon.
De Gucht spoke of his concerns regarding compulsory certification, export credits, and intellectual property. However, he did welcome progress made by Beijing in opening up its public procurement markets by abolishing regulations intended to protect national innovation. Chen for his part criticised the “remedies” used by the EU in trade matters, such as anti-subsidy measures against Chinese paper. Despite all the friction, however, De Gucht and Chen agreed to negotiate a bilateral treaty on investment. (E.H./transl.jl)