Asia Times: Open up, China tells EU


	March 29, 2002	atimes.com

China

Open up, China tells EU

BEIJING - China and the European Union should reduce trade disputes and open their markets to each other, says Chinese Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng.

Shi made the remarks during a meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who arrived in Beijing on Tuesday on an official visit to China.

Overall trade and economic cooperation between China and the EU is healthy, Shi said, but he added that China is worried about import limits the EU imposed on some Chinese products. The total number of anti-dumping cases against Chinese products launched by the EU reached 91, accounting for about one-fifth of the total anti-dumping cases China faced, Shi said.

Import limits against Chinese products on grounds of hygiene and technology are also increasing, Shi said. While the import ban on Chinese poultry products had not been resolved, the EU decided to ban imports of Chinese meat products last year.

"China understands the checks and care of the EU side on food hygiene," Shi said. "China, like the EU, also pays great attention to food hygiene. But the EU side, without prior consultation with the Chinese side, took abrupt measures against Chinese products, and we cannot accept that."

Recently, the EU imposed what Shi called an unreasonable limit on imports of Chinese lighters on grounds of child safety. Shi said that while China understood that children must be protected, such care should not be based on the price of lighters.

"Opening of markets should be a two-way track," Shi said. "The EU side hopes China opens wider to the outside world, and China also hopes the EU opens its markets to China. Only if trade disputes are subdued and markets open to each other, can trade and economic cooperation grow to a better level."

China-EU trade volume reached US$77.6 billion last year, up 15 percent from the previous year.

Shi asked Verhofstadt to exert the influence of Belgium, which Shi described as an "important member of the EU", so that China and the EU could properly resolve the disputes.

Verhofstadt said China's entry into the World Trade Organization is significant to the world trading system, especially now that there is a tendency to trade protectionism on the issue of steel. He explained the position of the EU and pledged to help resolve the trade disputes.

(Asia Pulse/XIC)