China dissatisfied with some WTO members' shirking obligation

BEIJING - China's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction with attempts to shirk World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations to abandon the surrogate country approach when calculating anti-dumping measures against Chinese exports.

"WTO members should live up to their obligations," said ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang at a press briefing, when asked to comment on dispute settlement procedures.

Geng said that in accordance with Article 15 of the accession protocol signed when China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, the surrogate country approach expired on December 11, 2016.

Geng said that "market economy status" is unrelated to whether WTO members fulfill the commitment in Article 15, but some parties are intentionally "confusing" the two unrelated concepts.

China's launch of dispute settlement procedures at the WTO demonstrates that China is determined to defend its lawful rights.

"China appreciates those WTO members who have abandoned the surrogate country approach and honored their obligations on time," he added.

Under the surrogate country approach, WTO members use costs of production in a third country to calculate the value of products.