Beijing to Take Action if WTO Members Fail to Treat China as Market Economy

The Chinese side calls on all the WTO member states to respect and to adhere to the international law, as well as to fulfill their international obligations, according to the statement of Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Beijing reserves the right to take further action if the World Trade Organization (WTO) member states would not accept China's market economy status, Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said Monday.

Sunday 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-marker economy, for example use anti-dumping measures.

"The Chinese side calls on all the WTO member states to respect and to adhere to the international law, as well as to fulfill their international obligations. China will decisively protect its lawful interests and reserves the right to undertake further steps to protect its interests as for the WTO member states, which would not adhere to their obligations," Gao said in his article published in the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party.

Beijing joined the WTO in 2001. China is recognized as a market economy by a number of countries, such as Russia, Brazil, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand. At the same time, many countries, including the EU member states, insist that China has not met all the criteria for obtaining such status.