China issues report on US violation of WTO rules

China issued, for the first time, a report comprehensively revealing the United States' excessive violation of World Trade Organization rules on Friday, urging the world's largest economy to shoulder up responsibilities and safeguard the multilateral trading system with WTO at the core.

Reviewing the US' performance on following WTO rules via the report, China has expressed concerns over US policy measures that undermine the multilateral trading rules, impose unilateral sanctions, adopt double standards in industrial policies, and disturb global industrial and supply chains.

The US has not only refused to follow WTO ruling, but also rejected a proposal to start the process of selecting new judges for the Appellate Body of the WTO, which became non-functional in December 2019 for lack of judges, the report, which was released on the website of the Ministry of Commerce, pointed out.

The US has long been imposing unilateral sanctions like additional tariffs to other countries under the so-called concerns of national security, human rights and forced technology transfer, and forces others to take its side and meet its requirements, the report said.

The US also implements exclusive and discriminatory subsidy policies, and disrupts other countries' industrial development through means like export control. It provokes decoupling, breaks global industrial and supply chains, expects to force industrial reshoring through unilateral levying of tariffs, tries to establish US-centered industrial and supply chains through massive and exclusive industrial subsidies, and promotes friendly-shoring outsourcing based on its so-called sharing similar values.

The release of the MOC report has demonstrated that China is a true upholder of multilateralism and is firmly against hegemony and protectionism, said Zhao Hong, a professor at Peking University's Law School and former chairperson of the WTO Appellate Body.

"The post-World War II international order has been proved to be effective in safeguarding world peace and development, and the WTO has played an important role in addressing trade disputes and promoting growth," Zhao said.

"The excessive violation of WTO rules by the US and its trampling on free trade, has already posed severe damage to the normal global order, harming world peace and stability. That has also harmed the reputation of the US itself, as countries around the world, especially developing economies, all want fairness and just and rebut hegemonism," she said.

"If the US expects to change world trade rules, it should resort to negotiations and respect interests of others, instead of bypassing the multilateral system and forcing rules that cater only to its own interests onto others," she added.