MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Beijing reserves the right to take further action if the World Trade Organization (WTO) member states would not accept China's market economy status, Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said Monday.
"The Chinese side calls on all the WTO member states to respect and to adhere to the international law, as well as to fulfill their international obligations. China will decisively protect its lawful interests and reserves the right to undertake further steps to protect its interests as for the WTO member states, which would not adhere to their obligations," Gao said in his article published in the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party.
Beijing joined the WTO in 2001. China is recognized as a market economy by a number of countries, such as Russia, Brazil, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand. At the same time, many countries, including the EU member states, insist that China has not met all the criteria for obtaining such status.
