China fears protectionism may hit exports

Beijing: Faced with increasing cases of anti-dumping duties against a host of Chinese goods, China fears that its exports may be hit this year due to rising trade protectionism.

China will face rising trade protectionism this year as a result of an increase in its exports as well as high unemployment rates in the United States and the European Union, Sun Zhenyu, the Chinese ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) said.

China, however, is committed to pushing forward the stalled Doha round of WTO talks, although it seems ‘highly unlikely’ that the global trade negotiations can be completed this year, Sun who is also a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body told China Daily.

Last year, various countries including India launched a total of 118 trade cases against China, affecting Chinese exports worth more than USD 13 billion.

The US was among the most aggressive, launching 23 cases involving USD 7.6 billion worth of Chinese exports.

"China was the scapegoat in most cases and some countries simply blamed China for their own economic problems such as trade deficits," Sun said.

The US also launched anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into imports of drill pipes used for oil wells from China during Spring Festival last month, while the EU filed two anti-dumping cases against China over coated fine paper and melamine earlier this year.