China urges EU to abandon anti-dumping criteria

BEIJING, June 13, 2016 -- Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi (R) meets with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Beijing, capital of China, June 13, 2016. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, June 13 -- State Councilor Yang Jiechi on Monday called on the European Union to stop basing its anti-dumping investigations into Chinese goods on the "surrogate country system."

Yang made the comments when meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is accompanying German Chancellor Angela Merkel on her ninth trip to China and for the China-Germany intergovernmental consultation on Monday morning.

"The EU should deliver on its obligations -- as stipulated in article 15 of the protocols for China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 -- to ensure the healthy development of trade ties," Yang said.

Yang was referring to the surrogate country system, a term used by the EU in anti-dumping investigations, under which production costs in a third country are used to calculate the value of products from non-market economies.

The system should be abandoned by Dec. 11, 2016, under an agreement signed when China joined the WTO. However, the European Parliament said in a non-binding resolution last month that China had failed to meet the five EU criteria that define a market economy, thus, Chinese exports should be treated in a "non-standard way."

Yang said deepening cooperation between China and Germany will serve the two countries' interests as well as China-Europe relations and the world at large.

He said China is ready to work with Germany to make the G20 Hangzhou summit in September a success.

Steinmeier said Germany is willing to use the intergovernmental consultation as an opportunity to deepen cooperation with China in all fields.

The consultation mechanism, established in 2011, aims to coordinate and enhance cooperation between China and Germany. More than 20 ministers and vice ministers from both sides are expected to attend this year's session.