WTO review of industrial subsidies by China highlights 'lack of transparency'

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Wednesday highlighted China's "lack of transparency" on industrial subsidies, suggesting the absence of such public information is leading to complaints from other nations fearful of Chinese goods flooding the global economy.

Beijing's disclosures are not complete and detailed enough "to have a clear picture of China's support programs," the WTO secretariat said in a trade policy review of the world's No. 2 economy and the first such appraisal since 2021.

The report comes after recent moves by the US and the European Union to erect new trade barriers against Chinese imports, arguing that Beijing's subsidies and overcapacity have damaged their domestic industries. Canada is currently considering similar steps, while countries in South America have imposed tariffs to limit cheap imports of metal from China and Indonesia.


As per the WTO, China's notifications on subsidies "do not provide information on expenditure levels in sectors where government support is likely to have global repercussions, such as aluminium, EVs, solar modules, glass, shipbuilding, semiconductors, or steel."

The trade institution noted that the prevalence of Chinese state-owned companies made it hard to get a full picture of the level of government support. The WTO also criticised the authorities for not providing information on the overall endowment of the funds Beijing has set up to invest into industry. "The incentives provided by these funds have generally not been notified to the WTO," the report stated, adding that available estimates of the money they have available range from 1.9 trillion yuan ($260 billion) to 6.5 trillion yuan.