China complies with WTO rules, commitments: Official

BEIJING - China has strictly followed the WTO rules and fulfilled its commitments in the 15 years since its WTO accession, an official said Thursday in response to concerns raised in a Monday US report.

The US Trade Representative (USTR) filed the annual report on China's WTO compliance to the US Congress on Monday. The report said China has not fulfilled some of its WTO commitments.

The report's views of problems in Sino-US trade and investment, as well as the roots of those issues, are different from China's understanding, so China does not agree, Sun Jiwen, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said at a press briefing.

"Since China's WTO accession, it has strictly followed the rules and earnestly fulfilled its commitments, making substantial contributions to the effective functioning and continuous development of the multilateral trade mechanism," Sun said.

As Sino-US economic ties develop, it is normal to encounter some frictions, Sun said, adding that both sides should seek to dissolve conflicts and achieve win-win results through equal dialogues and industrial cooperation according to WTO rules.

"China hopes it can make joint efforts with the United States to put more positive energy into bilateral trade and economic relations to make major contributions to the multilateral mechanism's development and the world economic recovery," according to Sun.

The USTR also said that US goods exports to China have increased 505 percent and services exports have surged 802 percent since China's WTO entry in 2001, calling the change "a dramatic expansion."