EU Resolution Against China's Market Status 'Nonconstructive'

The European Parliament's recommendation not to recognize China as a market economy is nonconstructive, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Monday.

BEIJING (Sputnik) – Last week, the members of European Parliament passed a non-binding resolution calling on the European Union not to recognize China as a market economy. China's status was supposed to automatically transit to that of a market economy after December 11 according to the protocol on its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The minister also stressed that, as Article 15 of the accession protocol states, other WTO members should stop using the so-called Surrogate Country approach for anti-dumping investigations against China.

"These obligation must be respected by all WTO members. Irrespective of whether our market economy status is recognized or not, EU countries must respect the legal obligations of the Article 15 of the accession protocol," Wang Yi stressed.

China joined the WTO in 2001. The country is recognized as a market economy by Russia, Brazil, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand. Within the European Union, such countries as the United Kingdom and the Netherlands support China being assigned a market economy status, however, many EU members insist that China has not met all the European criteria for such a move.