China warns EU to respect looming new trading status under WTO
Envoy to Brussels cites WTO protocol that will treat country as a more market-based economy
China's top diplomat in Brussels has warned the European Union not to disregard changes to global trade rules set to favour Beijing and which European companies fear will open the bloc to a flood of cheap Chinese goods.
World trading powers including Europe are in a bind over how to interpret a World Trade Organisation protocol that treats China as a more market-based economy from late 2016 - a status that will make it harder for the EU to protect local industry.
The decision will shape Sino-EU relations for years to come, either souring ties or potentially building goodwill as China opens up its markets, despite the risks to EU firms at home.
"This is not something bilateral [with the European Union]," China's ambassador to the EU, Yang Yanyi, told the European Parliament's trade committee in rare public comments by China on the highly sensitive issue.
"According to the WTO, China will obtain this market economy status in 2016, next year. So we hope that all sides abide by WTO rules and don't resort to protectionism and prudently use trade defence instruments."
The issue is likely to be at the centre of an EU-China summit that Yang said would take place in Brussels in June. The 28-country European Union needs to decide on its approach soon because of the legislative changes it will entail and parliament's approval.
