After recently attacking measures utilized in the United States to assist its renewable energy sector, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) has now also formally challenged US countervailing duties over 22 other categories of Chinese products, accusing it of abusing World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

Plans to create an African free trade area (FTA) by integrating three existing African trade blocs consisting of 26 countries by July 2014 are gaining momentum. The aim is to create a free market of 525 million people with an output of US$1 trillion making it a global player. Involved in the initiative are the governments of the countries presently organised in the existing East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

BEIJING, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Pascal Lamy said Monday in Beijing that China has huge opportunities to upgrade its service industry. Lamy made the remarks at the forum "WTO and China: Beijing International Forum", part of the China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services (Beijing Fair) that opened Monday. China is a country with boundless ability for growth and innovation, and it boasts great opportunities for its service industry upgrading, said Lamy.

Trade officials in Seoul indicated yesterday that South Korea and Colombia will soon conclude a free trade agreement (FTA). The officials denied a news report that the two countries would declare the FTA concluded within next month, but said it was true that discussions are in the final stages. “There still remain some issues which each side has a completely different stance on. Such issues should all be resolved in order to be able to reach a final agreement, so now is a difficult time to expect when it will be done,” a trade ministry official said.

BRASILIA, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota and his South Korean counterpart Kim Sung-hwan signed here on Monday an agreement aimed at boosting bilateral trade. At a joint press conference following their meeting, Patriota said the level of bilateral understanding is growing. He also revealed that Brazil's Minister of Industry and Trade Fernando Pimentel will visit South Korea this week and will also meet with South Korean businessmen investing in Brazil.

New Delhi: India may have sympathies with the victims of 9/11, 2001 terror attack in the US, but New Delhi plans to contest in WTO the way American administration has gone about raising resources for helping the victims. To help the 9/11 victims, the US had levied two percent duty on goods and services imported from nations, which are outside the purview of WTO's Agreement on Government Procurement. India is not a part of this agreement.

HAVANA, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Cuba is mulling plans to promote exports of technology products as well as health and tourism services under an export diversification program aimed at boosting the economy, local media reported Saturday. The Cuban government has in the past two years strived to "update its economic model," with a host of measures to increase and diversify its exports and reducing imports.

SEOUL, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Trade officials of South Korea and Japan will hold a meeting next week to discuss resuming negotiations for a two-way trade agreement, the South Korean foreign ministry said here on Friday. The two-day working-level meeting beginning next Tuesday will involve discussions on establishing favorable conditions for restarting negotiations and ways to ensure mutual interests, according to the ministry.

LIMA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Peru is lifting the antidumping duties levied on Chinese blended fabrics, the South American country's competition watchdog said Friday. The cancellation goes into effect on Saturday, concerning rayon-viscose and cotton-fiber fabrics among others, the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Intellectual Property Protection said in a statement.

Mexico would welcome Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks because it would help make the free-trade pact "a very important actor" in the international community, Mexican Ambassador to Japan Claude Heller said. Mexico, along with Japan and Canada, expressed interest in joining the TPP talks last November.