China Perspective

Europe still wavers on China's market status

By Zhang Haizhou and Ma Liyao (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-28 08:01

BEIJING - The European Union is still not ready to recognize China's market economy status, visiting European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek said on Thursday.

Buzek made the remarks only two days after the United States agreed to recognize China's status as soon as possible after the second Strategic and Economic Dialogue between the two countries.

In an interview with China Daily, Buzek said he's in Beijing to deepen cooperation between China and the EU amid rising global challenges, while urging both sides to resolve key differences in laws and rights.

But the 69-year-old flatly denied the European Parliament is anti-China, even though the body has upset Beijing over issues like Tibet and human rights over the past years.

China must "fulfill all the criteria" for the EU to recognize its market economy status, said Buzek, although "we think it's not quite far from the point of view of investment of European companies".

"If you didn't implement your law, which is prepared in good way, it's very difficult to say you are a real true market economy," he said, referring also to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The covenant, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1966 and came into force in March 1976, commits its parties to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life and freedom of religion.

China signed the covenant in 1998, "but it's not ratified yet", Buzek added. "And we are waiting for implementing this covenant."

Also, the EU stipulated five criteria in 1998 for determining the status of a market economy, including statements on determination of market demand and government control.

But Zhang Tong, an expert on EU law from Beijing-based China University of Political Science and Law, said: "the EU's own criteria are not necessarily reasonable."

She said the EU had previously assessed the status of China and Russia and said Russia's market development was below China's. "But they recognized Russia's market economy status in 2002, shortly following the US."

Zhang said Buzek's remarks show the EU still views other countries through its own values. "And now it is trying to assess China through its own value judgments."

China has sought to achieve market economy status since the government made a decision to reform its economic system in 1984, as Xinhua News Agency reported. Achieving the goal would help the country avoid punitive anti-dumping measures.

The EU is the largest trading partner of China, while China is the second largest of the 27-nation bloc.

But bilateral ties have been marked by trade disputes with anti-dumping measures at the center in recent years.

In 2008, the EU started six anti-dumping investigations against Chinese imports such as stainless steel, fasteners and shoes.

In 2009, the EU started to levy anti-dumping tariffs on candles made in China and proposed an extension of duties up to 16.5 percent on leather shoe imports from China in December.

Besides market economy status, Buzek said he also sees problems in China with civil and minority rights.

He confirmed that the European Parliament is debating the appointment of a special envoy to Tibet, and called the move a "great expectation" in the EU.

"We are not against China," Buzek said, adding that "minority problems are very important from our perspective."

Fang Lexian, an expert in European studies at Renmin University of China, said Beijing should keep vigilant and oppose the move.

He said the European Parliament started to mention the appointment as early as 2008.

"We need to use all channels to tell Europe that the Tibet issue is China's domestic affair, and should not be internationalized," Fang said, adding that it is unlikely the European Commission, the decision-making institution in the EU, would agree with the appointment.