EU Rejects China's Bid For Market Economy Status
The European Union has refused China's bid to be recognized as a market economy after an investigation by the E.U. Commission concluded the Chinese government still micro-manages the economy, an E.U. spokeswoman said Monday.
"To arrive at that position we need to establish there is no state interference," said Arancha Gonzalez , spokeswoman for the Commission's trade department.
In the past year, China has been lobbying hard for the so-called market economy status, which would make it harder for other countries to accuse it of flooding the market with cheap exports and level penalties against it.
In a report submitted to the Chinese authorities, the E.U. has also requested that China install and abide by corporate governance practices and accounting rules in order that accounting information be reliable enough to be consulted when China is accused of violating trade agreements. Laws governing bankruptcy and property rights will have to be imposed and implemented. Finally, China's banking sector must be freed of government control.
Until it fulfills these criteria, China will remain a non-market economy. That official label means its local prices and costs won't be used to determine whether it is dumping cheap exports. Instead, the E.U. will use prices and costs in a third country that is a market economy to determine whether China is guilty of dumping and calculate anti-dumping penalties accordingly.
The E.U. currently has 32 anti-dumping measures in force and 22 anti-dumping investigations going on against China, which is considered a non-market economy. Last year, 0.5% of Chinese exports to the E.U. were subject to anti-dumping charges.
The most important products by import volume subject to measures are bicycles and bicycle parts, fluorescent lamps, dead-burned magnesium and fluorspar, a commission statement said.
The U.S. has imposed anti-dumping duties on textiles, televisions, and wooden bedroom furniture - buoyant sectors that accounted for nearly one-fifth of Chinese exports last year.
欧盟拒绝承认中国的市场经济地位
欧盟(European Union)发言人周一称，欧盟已拒绝承认中国的市场经济地位，此前欧盟委员会(E.U. Commission)进行的一项调查认定中国政府仍在微观调控中国经济。
欧盟委员会贸易部发言人Arancha Gonzalez，国家不再微观干预经济，才能给予市场经济地位。
过去的一年中，中国一直在为获得所谓的市场经济地位而努力游说各国，有了市场经济地位，其他国家将难以指控中国向他们的市场进行倾销。
欧盟在提交给中国政府的报告中还要求中国建立和遵守企业治理规范和会计准则，这样中国在遭到违反贸易协议的指控时就可以提供足够可靠的会计信息作为参考。中国还需建立和实施有关破产和财产所有权的法律。而且，中国的银行业必须脱离政府的控制。
在中国完全达到上述标准以前，中国仍将是一个非市场经济国家。这意味著中国本地的价格和成本不会作为确定中国是否倾销廉价出口产品的依据。欧盟将依据身为市场经济国家的第三方国家的价格和成本来判定中国是否有倾销行为，并确定相应的反倾销罚款。
欧盟目前已对中国采取了32项反倾销措施，另有22项针对中国的反倾销调查正在进行。2003年，中国对欧盟的出口中有0.5%的产品遭到倾销指控。
