EU called on to fulfill WTO promises

Premier Li Keqiang co-chaired the 18th China-EU Leaders' Meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk (left) and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Beijing on Tuesday. WU ZHIYI /CHINA DAILY

Premier Li Keqiang urged the European Union to keep its commitment under the World Trade Organization framework and stop imposing unfair anti-dumping investigations against Chinese exporters.

Li called on the EU to follow Article 15 of the Accession Protocol of China's entry into the WTO, which says all WTO members should stop following subrogate country measures in anti-dumping cases against China by Dec 11, 2016.

Under such measures, importers can use production costs in a third country to define the value of exports from a nonmarket economy when calculating the dumping margin.

Many anti-dumping investigations on Chinese exports were conducted under this mechanism despite China having successfully built a market economy after decades of reform and opening-up, Xinhua reported.

Li co-chaired the 18th China-EU Leaders' Meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Tuesday in Beijing, where the EU leaders expressed condolences over the two Chinese UN peacekeepers killed in South Sudan.

Li said that China and the EU, as important powers in maintaining global peace and development, sent a positive signal through close contact and consultations.

He said China firmly supports Europe's integration process and wants to see a stable, flourishing and strong EU.

China is willing to work with the EU to reach a high-level investment agreement and initiate feasibility research of a free-trade zone, both aiming to boost liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, Li said.

Li called on both sides to enhance cooperation in infrastructure construction, 5G, network security, maritime sectors and people-to-people exchanges.

The premier also called for further cooperation with Central, East and South Europe to enhance balanced development of the continent. He said China is willing to cooperate in fields such as infrastructure, third-party markets, innovation and research, and cybersecurity.

Both sides signed an agreement on energy cooperation at the Great Hall of the People after a meeting lasting an hour and a half.

Last year, China and the EU decided to link up China's Belt and Road Initiative with the EU's investment plan, as well as establish a China-EU mutual investment fund and a China-EU connectivity platform.