China Says It Will Follow WTO Rules in Dispute With US, EU Over Financial Information Controls.
China said Tuesday it will follow WTO rules in settling disputes with the United States and Europe over restraints on access to its booming market for financial information services, but it had no comment on the content of the complaints.
Beijing "respects the choices" of other World Trade Organization members, the Commerce Ministry said in a brief statement. It was China's first comment on the WTO cases filed Monday in Geneva.
The new disputes add to tensions with Beijing over its swelling trade surplus with the United States and Europe. The U.S. and European Union demanded that Beijing ease rules that they say boost its Xinhua News Agency at the expense of rivals such as Reuters Group PLC, Bloomberg LP, and News Corp.'s Dow Jones & Co.
The request triggers a 60-day consultation period. It that fails to resolve the dispute, Washington and Brussels can ask the WTO to launch a formal investigation. The process can take years before the WTO approves retaliatory action.
"The Chinese side will conscientiously study the request for consultations and will deal with this matter according to WTO dispute resolution procedures," the Commerce Ministry said in the four-sentence statement. It did not respond to the content of the U.S. and EU complaints.
The United States and EU say China violated its free-trade pledges by imposing rules 18 months ago that require financial information providers to use a Xinhua-approved distributor. The only such entity currently approved is a Xinhua subsidiary.
Financial information services complain that Beijing is reneging on a 1996 commitment to let them to deal directly with banks and other customers in China. Under terms of its WTO entry, China promised not to close markets that it already had opened.
Demand for such services has grown rapidly as China's securities and other financial industries flourished in recent years. Xinhua launched its own financial information service in June as part of efforts to turn itself into a modern media company, and U.S. and EU officials have questioned how it can act as both regulator and competitor of foreign services.
The EU has become increasingly vocal about China's trade gap, an area where Washington has often taken the lead. China's trade surplus with the EU surged by 42 percent in January over the year-earlier period, according to Chinese government figures.
Last month, in a case brought by the United States, the EU and Canada, a WTO panel ruled that Beijing improperly used tax policy to restrict imports of auto parts. The United States also is pursuing WTO cases over Chinese product piracy and access to China's market for books, CDs and DVDs. An EU panel is examining complaints that Chinese-made screws for furniture and autos are being sold at improperly low prices.
China said Tuesday it will follow WTO rules in settling disputes with the United States and Europe over restraints on access to its booming market for financial information services, but it had no comment on the content of the complaints.
Beijing "respects the choices" of other World Trade Organization members, the Commerce Ministry said in a brief statement. It was China's first comment on the WTO cases filed Monday in Geneva.
The new disputes add to tensions with Beijing over its swelling trade surplus with the United States and Europe. The U.S. and European Union demanded that Beijing ease rules that they say boost its Xinhua News Agency at the expense of rivals such as Reuters Group PLC, Bloomberg LP, and News Corp.'s Dow Jones & Co.
The request triggers a 60-day consultation period. It that fails to resolve the dispute, Washington and Brussels can ask the WTO to launch a formal investigation. The process can take years before the WTO approves retaliatory action.
"The Chinese side will conscientiously study the request for consultations and will deal with this matter according to WTO dispute resolution procedures," the Commerce Ministry said in the four-sentence statement. It did not respond to the content of the U.S. and EU complaints.
The United States and EU say China violated its free-trade pledges by imposing rules 18 months ago that require financial information providers to use a Xinhua-approved distributor. The only such entity currently approved is a Xinhua subsidiary.
Financial information services complain that Beijing is reneging on a 1996 commitment to let them to deal directly with banks and other customers in China. Under terms of its WTO entry, China promised not to close markets that it already had opened.
Demand for such services has grown rapidly as China's securities and other financial industries flourished in recent years. Xinhua launched its own financial information service in June as part of efforts to turn itself into a modern media company, and U.S. and EU officials have questioned how it can act as both regulator and competitor of foreign services.
The EU has become increasingly vocal about China's trade gap, an area where Washington has often taken the lead. China's trade surplus with the EU surged by 42 percent in January over the year-earlier period, according to Chinese government figures.
Last month, in a case brought by the United States, the EU and Canada, a WTO panel ruled that Beijing improperly used tax policy to restrict imports of auto parts. The United States also is pursuing WTO cases over Chinese product piracy and access to China's market for books, CDs and DVDs. An EU panel is examining complaints that Chinese-made screws for furniture and autos are being sold at improperly low prices.
1 comment:
hmmm ... nice blog ....
mana edisi kesayanganku mas Ilham ...
kangen liat ttg alamnya .....
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