Brussels, 10/09/2008 (Agence Europe) - In response to a rumour of a possible extension of anti-dumping duties on Chinese shoe exports into the Community market, in place since 2006 (EUROPE 9736), the Chinese department of trade officially denounced the European anti-dumping frenzy on Tuesday 9 September. At the Xiamen conference, Cheng Yongru explained that “the EU should compete with China with an open mind. It's worrisome that the EU's trade policy is going backwards”. He criticised the fact that “the EU is abusing its power in cracking down on Chinese products” and accused Europe of using unfair rules in trade talks. Mr Cheng regretted the fact that over a two year period the EU had adopted a large number (8 in 2006 and 12 in 2007) of anti-dumping measures against Chinese products that ranged from orange marmalade, to low energy bulbs, following a European Commission investigation that concluded anti-dumping practices. The Chinese official added that these measures “are too frequent and involve a lot of money and many Chinese companies. Chinese companies are not only facing rising domestic cost pressures but also external antidumping pressures”. With 40 ongoing investigations and 26 measures adopted against Chinese exports in the second half of 2007, China remains the main anti-dumping investigation target according to a WTO report (EUROPE 9704).
Mr Cheng therefore called on the Commission to acknowledge that China's success results from the international division of labour and explained that “these EU companies should adjust their mindsets to adapt to the globalisation trend. At the current stage of globalisation, China's advantages are in processing, low-end manufacturing and labour-intensive sectors. The EU should realise this and work to improve their competitiveness in the high-tech, high end and service sectors”. The Chinese representative for trade also appealed for the EU to grant China the status of market economy, a definition that would help the country protect itself against anti-dumping lawsuits. Cheng insisted that “China has made many improvements in market reform, but fewer and fewer Chinese firms are getting market economy treatment from the EU, which implies that the EU is moving backward in this regard”. He also criticised the fact that “some 77 countries in the world have acknowledged China's market economy status but the EU and the US have simply turned a blind eye to this fact”.
A year after having accused China of being “deliberately obstructive” in settling trade disputes, where European leaders overtly expressed their frustration at the imbalance in Chinese-European economic and monetary relations (EUROPE 9526, 9551 and 9552), Commissioner for Trade Peter Mandelson will visit China on 24-27 September, ahead of the EU-China summit in Beijing next November. He will then participate in the next bilateral summit in Lyon, in November, which will allow for the efficiency of the new China-Europe dialogue to be measured (via the High Level Dialogue Mechanism set up on 25 April: EUROPE 9653). This will involve measures by Beijing to get rid of the massive trade deficit Europe has developed with China and involve an assessment of the efforts made by the latter to revalue the Chinese currency, the Yuan, which has risen by more than 12% in value to that of the Euro since the end of June. (E.H./transl.rh)