By Song Shengxia Source:Global Times Published: 2012-6-14 0:00:03
China's policy of restricting rare-earth exports to protect the environment is well-founded and any questioning of the policy by Western countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings reflects double standards, Chinese trade experts said Wednesday.
"The questioning of China's rare-earth export policy at WTO's trade policy review meeting is aimed at influencing public opinion and exerting pressure on China, but it will have no legal impact on China's policy," Zhou Shijian, an international trade law expert at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times Wednesday.
"The management of rare-earth exports is an effective way to reduce pollution, and accusing China of restricting exports of the minerals under the pretext of protecting the environment amounts to pursuing double standards," he said.
Zhao Yumin, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said rare-earth trade makes a major contribution to environmental degradation in the country and reducing the trade will cut pollution.
"The logic is well-founded. Trade should be mutually beneficial, otherwise it won't be sustainable. Western countries should rationally assess the impact of large-scale rare-earth trade on China's environment and avoid cornering China," she said.
The experts were responding to the questioning of China's rare-earth export policy at the WTO's ongoing biennial review of China's trade policy which will be concluded today.
At the meeting, the trade arbiter said that China has obviously tightened restrictions on rare-earth exports and it is not transparent about its trade policies, Japan's Kyodo News reported Wednesday.
The trade arbiter also questioned China's claim of restricting rare-earth exports to protect the environment, it reported.
Huang Minghai, director of MOFCOM's press office, told the Global Times that the ministry has sent a delegation to the meeting to respond to questions from WTO members and any conclusion at the meeting bears no impact on the final result of the dispute between China and Japan, the US and EU over China's rare-earth policy.
In March, Japan, the US and EU filed a joint case with the WTO, accusing China of unfairly controlling its rare-earth exports.
In response to the complaints, Liu Weimin, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in March China adopts management measures not only on rare-earth exports, but also on its mining and production in order to protect resources and environment and realize sustainable development.
Trade policy reviews examine and evaluate the WTO members' trade and related policies under the WTO agreements.
All the members are subject to review, with the frequency of reviews depending on a member's share of world trade. The US, China, EU and Japan are reviewed every two years.