A growing number of international trade disputes will challenge
China next year as protectionism resulting from the sluggish world
economy picks up among some of its trade partners, said
anti-dumping officials.
The officials urged the government, enterprises, industrial
associations and chambers of commerce to keep a close eye on the
trend and protect China's trade interests.
Wang Qinhua, general director of the Bureau of Industrial Injury
Investigation under the State Economic
and Trade Commission, said the challenge comes from China's
global status as the world's major export and import country.
With the reduction of tariffs and the phasing-out of non-tariff
measures as required by the World Trade Organization, China is
likely to see an increasing number of cases in which the dumping of
foreign products damages Chinese industries, said Wang.
"The trend is more evident next year, as many countries have aimed
to boost exports to develop their economy," said the official,
adding that China was their major export market.
On
the other hand, the countries will map out policies to stop many
exports from China into their domestic market with an effort to
protect their own industries amid slow economic growth.
Wang unveiled the warning at a workshop on anti-dumping organized
by China Federation of Industrial Economics over the weekend in
Beijing.
Statistics indicated that China has been saddled with the most
anti-dumping charges. Since the 1990s, every one-in-six
anti-dumping and safeguard-measure cases involved Chinese
products.
By
the end of October, 544 cases of anti-dumping and safeguard-measure
investigations in 33 countries and regions involve China, with
commodities worth US$16 billion at stake, according to official
statistics. For its imports, China has only initiated 21
anti-dumping investigations against foreign exporters, most of
which concern chemical products since 1997, when China enacted its
Anti-Dumping Law.
At
the workshop, some experts said the relatively low price of Chinese
products and the rapid rise of China's exports had triggered the
large number of anti-dumping actions.
Experts said the competitive edge of some labour-intensive Chinese
products on the international market may have led to anti-dumping
actions from some developed countries, who fear their products risk
being forced out of the market.
Wang said: "It is imperative for China to adopt anti-dumping,
anti-subsidiary and protective measures to regulate international
trade order and to protect the security of domestic industry."
(China Daily December 30, 2002)