China urged to prepare for trade sanctions

BEIJING - China should strengthen its trade-remedy mechanism as part of an effort to meet the challenges brought by developed countries, as trade protectionism is gaining ground in a global market still suffering economic turmoil, experts said.

"Because China has been a major target of trade protectionism worldwide, we should make greater efforts to assert Chinese companies' interests in global trade disputes, which will grow in the future, for the global economy hasn't recovered completely," said Zhou Shijian, a senior researcher with the Center for US-China Relations at Tsinghua University.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Commerce called on domestic companies to respond to a question about the effects of alleged dumping of photographic paper and paperboard products imported from the European Union (EU), the United States and Japan this year.

"We have made great strides sticking up for China's interests by initiating various trade-remedy measures," said Yang Yi, director at the bureau of industry injury investigation of the Ministry of Commerce, at a forum in December.

Since late 2008, China has been a major target of trade protectionism worldwide. In 2009, there were 127 cases filed by trade partners against China, the largest number ever.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, more than 40 percent of anti-dumping measures imposed on China came from the US, EU and India during the last 10 years.

"As the unemployment rate remains high in the US, trade-remedy cases targeting China will surge to a new high in the next two years, and China has to be ready for that," Zhou said.

During the first half of 2010, China initiated only two anti-dumping cases, compared with five in the same period in 2009.

In addition to taking anti-dumping measures, improved negotiating skills, familiarity with foreign markets' policies and increased industry security are also crucial to China for establishing a complete trade-remedy mechanism, said Huo Jianguo, director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, which is affiliated to the Ministry of Commerce.

He said the mechanism will strengthen China's ability to deal with the trade protectionism of other countries

In December, the World Trade Organization (WTO) handed China a victory in a trade dispute with the EU over Chinese-made steel fasteners. This is the first time China has won a case against the EU.

In a statement on its website, the WTO ruled that the EU policy of imposing a 63 to 87 percent tariff on those products discriminates against Chinese exporters.