China is setting up a comprehensive pre-monitoring system for
imports in case of any anti-dumping violations, a senior commerce
official told an international anti-dumping forum organized by the
China Institute for World Trade Organization Studies in Beijing on
Thursday.
Wang Qinhua, chief of the Bureau for the Investigation of
Industrial Damage under the Ministry of Commerce, said
her department is working on systems to implement for industries
such as information technology, textiles, chemicals and farm
produce.
Some systems have already been completed in the fields of auto
production, fertilizers and steel making.
"We planned to expand coverage of the pre-warning system, and a
comprehensive network is the final goal," she said.
But the ministry can only set up systems for some key
industries, while others can set up systems through their own
industrial associations, Wang said.
"The ministry can help them by sharing the structures of systems
with them," she said.
The pre-warning system can help protect domestic industries
against the threat of dumping of foreign imports.
The system can monitor the import prices and quantities, the
technological updates of foreign manufacturers and other global
movements within the sector, Wang said.
The system will also deliver information to enterprises
regularly and give guidance to their decision-making, Wang
said.
By now, China has filed 24 anti-dumping charges on foreign
products, 12 of them raised after China's entry into the World
Trade Organization (WTO) in December 2001.
Besides the monitoring system for imports, the Bureau of Fair
Trade for Importing and Exporting under the ministry is preparing
for a new system for exports.
Details of the system, which can give suggestions on adjusting
export prices or export destinations to avoid possible disputes,
are still being worked out.
Bureau chief Wang Shichun said Chinese exports have been the
biggest victim of anti-dumping charges, with 544 cases by the end
of September.
Wang is not optimistic about the export environment for Chinese
goods in the future, which will be challenged by even more
anti-dumping charges.
In an effort to improve the trading environment, Wang said China
has requested amendments to the anti-dumping rules of the WTO and
abolition of an article regarding non-market economies.
By defining China as a non-market economy, the US and EU
anti-dumping rules use costs of production in a third country to
calculate the normal value of Chinese exports.
The use of a so-called surrogate, usually an emerging economy
such as Turkey or Mexico where materials and labor costs are much
higher than in China, often means Chinese exporters are deemed to
be selling below normal value.
Zhang Hanlin, president of the China Institute for WTO Studies,
said local companies should move to learn relevant knowledge as a
peak period of anti-dumping charges will be waiting for them in
2005.
China will open up its foreign trading rights by then and more
players in the area will lead to price drops, Zhang said.
The production capacity of Chinese companies will hit records in
2005, and more products need to be consumed in the world
markets.
(China Daily October 17, 2003)