Claims that the Chinese government's report to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) on subsidies lacked transparency were refuted by
officials on Thursday.
A Ministry of Commerce (MoC) official said China had met all the
WTO obligations on subsidies in line with its accession to the
organization. The government had been gathering information on
subsidy policy.
However, a Ministry of Finance official said difficulties
existed in obtaining accurate and complete information.
The European Union (EU) and the United States (US) claim China's
report on industry subsidies, which has been evaluated for the
first time by the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing
Measures, lacks transparency.
The MoC said the charge would "dampen" the evaluation made by
the committee.
MoC spokesman Chong Quan said the US and EU were also criticized
for their delay in notifying their agriculture subsidies and
pointed out that the data of both was last updated in 2001.
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Chong said China has made determined efforts in subsidies policy
notification.
The report which was submitted to the committee in April
includes 78 government policies and measures. He said the inclusion
of items didn't mean the government had made a decision on them but
it was done on transparency grounds. .
(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2006)