Interviews
'Trade protection will make situation more difficult' - MOC spokesman
18 Feb '09
3 min read
At a recent news conference, held by the Ministry of Commerce, spokesperson of the Ministry, Mr Yao Jian explained in detail views of the Chinese government towards trade protectionism. He elucidated by saying that the government was looking at the policy of protectionism from four different aspects.
Listing out the aspects he said, “The first is in context of domestic markets. Domestic consumer goods market continued to maintain stable and rapid growth in 2008. The contribution of domestic consumption to economic growth further manifested. The state has introduced a number of policies to expand domestic demand and stimulate economic growth since the fourth quarter of last year; the effects of which are now beginning to appear”.
Moving further, he said, “The second aspect is with regards to foreign direct investment (FDI) in China. The country received FDI amounting to US $108.3 billion in 2008, up 29.7 percent year-on-year. China has been taking the first place for attracting foreign capital among developing countries for 17 successive; we have full confidence in China's future in attracting foreign investment”.
The third aspect, he added by saying, “Is concerning the situation in international economic cooperation”. Giving details he said, “In January this year, China undertook projects worth $2.83 billion in overseas markets, an increase of 23 percent year-on-year, of which Asia accounted for 44.2 percent, Africa 37.1 percent, Europe 9.5 percent, Latin America 3.9 percent, North America 1.4 percent and finally Oceania accounted for 3.9 percent”.
With regards to the fourth aspect, Mr Jian said, “It concerns with China's response to trade friction and opposing trade protectionism. At present, having been impacted by the economic turmoil, some countries have introduced a wide variety of trade protection measures. These trade protection measures can be divided into two main categories”.
“First, is abuse of trade remedy measures permitted by WTO rules, which are mainly anti-dumping, countervailing, safeguard measures and special safeguard measures. The second way of protectionist measures is to make use of traditional customs and non-tariff barriers”.
He continued, “For example in the second instance, some countries raise import tariffs or take measures to prohibit or restrict imports. In addition, they also introduce technical barriers to bar free trade, while some other countries put forward proposals of buying their own country products as part of stimulating national economic programs. China is deeply worried about these trends”.
He warned other countries by firmly saying, “We oppose any form of trade protectionism and suggest that countries should resolve international trade problems through cooperation and consultations. We believe that trade protection measures will make the already dire economic situation more difficult and countries should strengthen cooperation and consultation that is in line with the fundamental interests of all countries”.
He concluded by saying, “The Ministry of Commerce attaches great importance to dealing with trade frictions, and propose to resolve problems through consultations and also earnestly safeguard the interests of Chinese enterprises. We will closely follow the latest trends of trade protection measures and take effective measures to cope with them. As an open and major country, China will provide greater market space and more investment opportunities to other countries”.
Listing out the aspects he said, “The first is in context of domestic markets. Domestic consumer goods market continued to maintain stable and rapid growth in 2008. The contribution of domestic consumption to economic growth further manifested. The state has introduced a number of policies to expand domestic demand and stimulate economic growth since the fourth quarter of last year; the effects of which are now beginning to appear”.
Moving further, he said, “The second aspect is with regards to foreign direct investment (FDI) in China. The country received FDI amounting to US $108.3 billion in 2008, up 29.7 percent year-on-year. China has been taking the first place for attracting foreign capital among developing countries for 17 successive; we have full confidence in China's future in attracting foreign investment”.
The third aspect, he added by saying, “Is concerning the situation in international economic cooperation”. Giving details he said, “In January this year, China undertook projects worth $2.83 billion in overseas markets, an increase of 23 percent year-on-year, of which Asia accounted for 44.2 percent, Africa 37.1 percent, Europe 9.5 percent, Latin America 3.9 percent, North America 1.4 percent and finally Oceania accounted for 3.9 percent”.
With regards to the fourth aspect, Mr Jian said, “It concerns with China's response to trade friction and opposing trade protectionism. At present, having been impacted by the economic turmoil, some countries have introduced a wide variety of trade protection measures. These trade protection measures can be divided into two main categories”.
“First, is abuse of trade remedy measures permitted by WTO rules, which are mainly anti-dumping, countervailing, safeguard measures and special safeguard measures. The second way of protectionist measures is to make use of traditional customs and non-tariff barriers”.
He continued, “For example in the second instance, some countries raise import tariffs or take measures to prohibit or restrict imports. In addition, they also introduce technical barriers to bar free trade, while some other countries put forward proposals of buying their own country products as part of stimulating national economic programs. China is deeply worried about these trends”.
He warned other countries by firmly saying, “We oppose any form of trade protectionism and suggest that countries should resolve international trade problems through cooperation and consultations. We believe that trade protection measures will make the already dire economic situation more difficult and countries should strengthen cooperation and consultation that is in line with the fundamental interests of all countries”.
He concluded by saying, “The Ministry of Commerce attaches great importance to dealing with trade frictions, and propose to resolve problems through consultations and also earnestly safeguard the interests of Chinese enterprises. We will closely follow the latest trends of trade protection measures and take effective measures to cope with them. As an open and major country, China will provide greater market space and more investment opportunities to other countries”.
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