Beijing, Dec 25: Technical barriers created by
foreign countries including the United States and the EU cost
Chinese exporters, especially the textile industry, up to USD
69.1 billion last year, the Commerce Ministry said here on Monday.
"The textile industry has been most affected by barriers,
taking up to 43 per cent of the losses," said a ministry
report. "Exports of food, poultry, wood products, electronic
and machine products were also greatly affected."
The report said the European Union and the US had taken
the lead in setting high technical standards for Chinese
export products, followed by Japan and South Korea.
These countries usually added items to inspection and
quarantine lists or revised trade regulations on the grounds
of environmental protection, consumer health and other
reasons, the report said.
Among 22 categories of Chinese export commodities, 18 had
encountered technical barriers in 2005, said the report.
Chinese export companies were learning to respond rapidly
to foreign technical barriers and improve competitiveness in
exports, but there was still a long way to go, the report
said.
The government started to set up centres across the
country this year to analyse technical standards for foreign
market access, issuing regular reports for the government and
industries.
Under WTO rules, every WTO member has the legitimate
right to question new trade regulations by other nations
within 60 days of the promulgation.
However, the lack of assistance from technical experts
and the abstruseness of technical standards often frustrate
Chinese companies and prevent them from taking effective
action.
One hundred technical service centres are scheduled to be
set up by 2010 to cover more than half the country's export
commodities, the ministry said.
China's monthly trade surplus stood at USD 22.9 billion in November, contributing to this year's total surplus to an all-time record at 156.52 billion dollars.
The year's aggregate trade surplus surged to USD 156.521
billion through November, dwarfing the USD 102 billion
for the full-year of 2005.
China's growing trade surplus is a major reason for the
rising trade friction with major trading partners.
Bureau Report