China rebukes US criticism at the WTO

China has dismissed criticism by the US during a WTO review of Chinese trade practices, suggesting that many US accusations were groundless and hypocritical, Reuters reported. The exchange came during the WTO’s two-day Trade Policy Review (TPR), in which the US ambassador to the WTO accused China of moving away from trade liberalism and towards a “tighter embrace of state capitalism.” Yu Jianhua, China’s assistant minister of commerce, responded that “[t]he term [state capitalism] cannot be found in… WTO documents. It has nothing to do with the TPR or WTO rules.” In a separate 442-page document responding to more than 1,720 written questions on trade policies, China responded to US complaints and questions with sometimes sharp rebukes. “The US never fulfills any of the transparency commitments made to China,” it said in response to calls for greater Chinese trade transparency.