US Trade Rep Says China Has Not Altered Its Trade, Market-Distorting Practices'

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - China has failed to change its unfair trade practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a press release upon filing a new report.

"We completed this update as part of this Administration’s strengthened monitoring and enforcement effort," Lighthizer said Tuesday. "This update shows that China has not fundamentally altered its unfair, unreasonable, and market-distorting practices that were the subject of the March 2018 report on our Section 301 investigation."

The report said China shows no sign of ceasing its policy and practice of carrying out and supporting cyber-enabled theft and intrusions into the commercial networks of US companies.

Moreover, the report said information gathered from the ongoing monitoring of the Chinese espionage group APT10 by the US Department of Homeland Security reveals a rising incidence of Chinese cyber-enabled theft.

The findings also revealed the Chinese government supported intrusions into commercial networks and the emergence of cyber-theft in Asutralia, Japan, the European Union and South Korea.

READ MORE: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit Reveals Depth of US-China Division

In August 2017, US President Donald Trump instructed the trade representative to determine under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 whether to investigate China's laws, policies, practices or actions that may be discriminatory and harmful to US intellectual property, innovation, or technology development.