Slander from the U.S. insinuating that China is gaining advantages through unfair trade practices is a distortion of facts and is therefore a groundless claim, noted China’s official statement regarding the recently-released Section 301 Action by the U.S.

The U.S. side claims that it has a massive trade deficit with China, but its figures have been over estimated, with the main reasons for such a deficit having nothing to do with China at all, noted the Ministry of Commerce in its statement.

U.S. trade statistics indicate that the deficit has reached hundreds of billions of dollars, but the figures are highly overestimated, said Zhang Yuyan from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Trade includes goods and services. However, service trade is not fully reflected in U.S. statistics, said Zhang, and the U.S. enjoys a big surplus from their service trade.

Trade competitiveness is indeed industrial competitiveness at its core, said Long Guoqiang, Vice President and research fellow of the Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC). The U.S. is quite competitive in high-tech industry, and sets limits on high-tech exports, especially to China.

The U.S., whose economy is mainly supported by services, cannot meet domestic consumption demands so relies on large imports of consumer goods from other countries, said Professor Wang Xiaosong from Renmin University of China.

Wang noted that by doing so, the U.S., who has trade deficits with over a hundred countries, is in essence making use of its surplus savings from abroad to maintain its national consumption levels, that far exceed production capacity.

In addition, the U.S. made irresponsible and groundless remarks in regards to the so-called theft of intellectual property and the forced technology transfer, commented People’s Daily, adding that the Made in China 2025 Initiative and other industrial policies are all open and transparent.

The U.S. blamed China for the so-called theft of intellectual property, ignoring the efforts China has made to protect intellectual property and turning a blind eye to the country's improved legal system to protect intellectual property rights, said Professor Liu Chuntian of Renmin University of China.

China has improved juridical capacity and public awareness of IPR protection through the establishment of a total of 18 IPR courts and tribunals within three years, along with the implementation of a national IPR strategy, said Zhang Yansheng, a chief researcher at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

Zhang continued that patents for inventions from China reached over 1.3 million in 2017, surpassing the sum of those in Japan, South Korea, the E.U. and the U.S.

The blame is groundless, as the Chinese government did not make this request to foreign companies, said Professor Wang. The contractual behavior of Chinese and foreign companies in technological, economic and trade fields are based purely on voluntary principle, with both sides benefiting from the cooperation, said Professor Liu Junhai from Renmin University of China.

Regarding Made in China 2025, it is in essence no different from the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) created by the U.S., said Huang Qunhui from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Huang noted that the Chinese government has confirmed many times that Made in China 2025 will be promoted with an open mind and environment, providing equal treatment to domestic and foreign companies.