China hits out at US as trade talks begin
China on Tuesday warned rising protectionist sentiment in the United States was damaging trade ties, as the two world powers sat down to discuss long-standing economic tensions.
By Agencies |
BEIJING: China on Tuesday warned rising protectionist sentiment in the United States was damaging trade ties, as the two world powers sat down to discuss long-standing economic tensions.
"There have been some disharmonious notes in China-US relations this year. The inclination to politicise (trade) issues has increased," Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi said in her opening remarks to annual one-day trade talks.
"Trade restrictions, and protectionist measures, can only hurt both sides."
A number of US lawmakers have introduced or threatened new legislation targetting alleged unfair Chinese trade practices, amid an ever-expanding trading imbalance between the two sides.
This was highlighted on Tuesday as the Chinese government released figures showing China's overall trade surplus hit 26.3 billion dollars in November, a 14.7-percent rise from the same month a year ago and the third-largest ever.
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The United States has also initiated action at the World Trade Organisation this year over trade disputes, including alleged Chinese intellectual property rights abuses and unfair industrial subsidies. Referring to talks among delegation leaders before the official meeting began, US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said Wu "mentioned very strongly and very directly that she felt uncomfortable" with the US action at the WTO.
Gutierrez urged China not to take offence at the WTO complaints. "When we take a case forward in a legal fashion, we do so as a matter of business but never as a matter of disrespect," he said, while adding that the US administration remained opposed to protectionism.
"Protectionism is something that we must avoid together," he said. In her public remarks to Gutierrez and Trade Representative Susan Schwab, co-leaders of the US delegation, at the start of the meeting, Wu also criticised US media reports about the safety of Chinese-made products.
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"The US media has hyped the product safety issue, causing serious damage to the image of Chinese products and China's national reputation," she said, adding the politicisation of trade issues had also had an impact. The talks on Tuesday were the 18th annual session of the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, held to discuss specific trade-related issues.
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The two sides were expected to end the talks on Tuesday afternoon with an agreement on improving food safety, as well as one on drugs and medical supply safety, according to a US embassy spokeswoman. On Wednesday, a two-day Strategic Economic Dialogue will begin. The dialogue is held twice a year and is meant to look at longer-term trade issues between the two sides.
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who will head the US team to the dialogue, has already flagged concerns over China's trade practices to be discussed.
One of the biggest issues for the United States is China's currency, the yuan, which critics charge is being kept artificially weak, giving Chinese firms an unfair advantage when they sell their products overseas.
Paulson last week called on China to immediately revalue the tightly-controlled yuan.
On one side of potential cooperation between the two sides at the dialogue, a Chinese official said in comments published Tuesday that China and the United States would seek to work more closely on improving their energy use.
"The two sides should intensify their energy efficiency cooperation and increase their efforts in clean energy exploration," the China Daily quoted Ma Kai, the head of China's National Development and Reform Commission, as saying.
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