EU: No Market Economy Status For China

BRUSSELS, Belgium (July 14) - The EU has refused China a market economy status on the grounds of it having too much state interference and a too narrow corporate basis, according to a recent report in the Financial Times. For the current revision of the anti-dumping measures against China this may be considered good news. If China would have been given market economy status it would have been far more difficult to prove dumping practices. Going prices in China would then have to be accepted, and could not be compared to other developing economies like Vietnam or India. Bike Europe already reported on this matter in the June issue, when the assesment was still undecided. The Financial Times bases its news on a confidential report originally destined for the European leaders. Not only is the market economy status a practical advantage, it is also a ‘reward’ for a country’s economic achievements, or to put it as the Chinese would: it gives an awfull lot of ‘face’ to their country.(MH)