EU not ready to grant China market status (Agencies) Updated: 2005-07-14 06:58
Nevertheless, Barroso will face a number of tricky issues in Beijing,
including EU nations' failure to agree on lifting a 15-year arms embargo on
China, surges in Chinese footwear imports and long-standing human rights
concerns.
Australia granted China market status in April, but many of Beijing's other
trading partners have held back because of concerns that Chinese authorities
still interfere too much in business.
London's Financial Times last week quoted Ian Pearson, Britain's minister of
state for trade, as saying his government was talking with its EU partners on
the subject. "We in Britain believe China should be granted market economy
status," he was quoted as saying during a visit to China.
The market label is a prized commodity. Among other benefits, it allows
countries to provide their own evidence when they are accused of price-fixing on
the international export market.
As world trade opens up, such accusations are becoming a favorite way of
erecting alternative trade barriers.
During Barroso's five-day visit, he planned to meet President Hu Jintao and
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in Beijing, and to travel also to Hong Kong and Macao.
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