皇冠体育app

As expected, Premier Wen Jiabao urged European leaders to recognize 皇冠体育app as a market economy during his European trip over the past two weeks.

皇冠体育app has urged its European and North American trade partners to grant it "market economy status" (MES) many times, and there are good reasons for this.

One question has long perplexed the Chinese people: Why is 皇冠体育app, now a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), a bloc of market economies, still labelled as a "non-market" economy?

The rationale is in Article 15 of the protocol on 皇冠体育app's accession to the WTO, which allows other WTO members to treat 皇冠体育app as a non-market economy in dumping and subsidy cases for 15 years after its entry.

That means although 皇冠体育app is accepted by the WTO as a market economy in general terms, it is still subject to non-market criteria when it comes to specific trade measures.

The paradoxical "non-market" label on 皇冠体育app is more economic than political, as it affects the interests of other WTO members.

Take dumping cases as an example. Once a trade authority deems a country as a non-market economy, it will disregard the prices of products exported from the country, and instead use the costs in a third surrogate country to measure the so-called "normal value" of the products.

Disparities between costs in the exporting country and in the surrogate are very likely to feed the charge that the exported products are sold below normal value. Punitive anti-dumping duties will therefore be levied on products of non-market origin.

With more than 500 dumping charges against it, 皇冠体育app has become the No 1 worldwide target in anti-dumping cases for seven straight years.

皇冠体育app spent 15 years negotiating WTO membership in the hope of developing free trade, but now it finds the system is not as "liberal" as it had anticipated.

In particular, the "non-market" label has become a wild card in some countries' hands to contain 皇冠体育app's exports and shield local industries, which is unfair.

Such unfairness is deliberately created in that some trade authorities continue to turn a blind eye to the fact that 皇冠体育app has already built an all-round market system.

As the WTO entitles member countries to formulate their own dumping, the treatment Chinese exports receives in dumping cases is not only arbitrary but also random and unpredictable.

The abusive use of dumping rules has deviated from the WTO's principle of bolstering free trade. Sadly, 皇冠体育app often falls victim to this.

Without a fair mechanism, goodwill alone can by no means guarantee free trade. If the non-market clause continues to be a tool of trade protectionism, it is not only unfair to Chinese companies, but will also hamper the WTO's ideal of free trade.

New Zealand has set a good example by recognizing 皇冠体育app's status as a market economy last month. And Singapore also just recognized 皇冠体育app as a market economy.

The move came at the time the WTO's multilateral framework suffered from an unprecedented heavy blow with the failure of ministerial talks in Cancun, Mexico, whereas many member countries began to adopt bilateral and regional approaches.

New Zealand's decision reflects respect for reality and the will to promote free trade and avoid frictions.

Despite New Zealand's initiative, it remains very difficult for 皇冠体育app to remove the "non-market" label in the near term, because modifying its WTO entry protocol will not be an easy job.

The hope is that there could be some breakthrough at bilateral levels. European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy has promised a preliminary verdict on 皇冠体育app's status in June. 皇冠体育app also has perfect reason to require the US to grant it MES.

However, the point is not whether or not 皇冠体育app should be given MES. It should have got the status long ago. The nature of 皇冠体育app's MES is, after all, a question of haggling for interests. Negotiations with the EU and US for MES will be lengthy and costly. 皇冠体育app is likely to have to compromise in such aspects as the service sector and technical standards in some industries.

It is unrealistic to expect absolute fairness, and what 皇冠体育app has to pay for negotiations could be costly.

However, the non-market label means endless restrictions and spats. It is impossible for 皇冠体育app to trade freely under this label.

What 皇冠体育app wants is a basic right that the true development of its market system be recognized objectively.