Mogherini Reaffirms EU to Recognize China as Market Economy

The European Union will continue making efforts aimed at the recognition of China as a country with a market economy, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

BEIJING (Sputnik) – Mogherini met with Wang on the sidelines of the G20 ministerial meeting in Bonn, Germany on Thursday.

The EU foreign policy chief pointed out that the European Union would continue to work on the Article 15 of the protocol on Chinese accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) allowing other WTO members to resort to anti-dumping measures as China is not a market economy, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Mogherini also stressed the EU commitment to ‘one China’ policy implying that both mainland China and Taiwan are inalienable parts of a single Chinese state. The EU top diplomat added that the European Union was going to boost strategic cooperation with China in various spheres such as settling the Afghanistan’s, Syrian and Korean issues.

Wang expressed his hope that the European Union would fulfill its obligations under the Article 15 and added that China supported integration processes in the European Union. He expressed his hope that the European Union would cope with the problems it faces.

December 11, 2016, marked the 15th anniversary of China's membership in the WTO, as well as the expiration of the Article 15 of the protocol on the country's accession to the WTO that allowed other member to treat China as a non-market economy.

China insists that after expiration of Article 15, the country had to be automatically recognized as a market economy. However, a number of countries refused to do that. In spring 2016, the European Parliament passed a non-binding resolution calling on the European Union not to recognize China as a market economy.