China, EU resolve dispute over wine
Print Edition
CHINA and the European Union have reached a deal to end a dispute over European wine exports to China, the latest sign of improving ties.
Beijing opened an inquiry last year into whether Europe was selling wine in China at unfairly low prices. The move was widely seen in Europe as retaliation for the EU’s efforts to hit Chinese solar panels with punitive import duties.
The solar panels dispute was resolved, but China had pressed ahead with the wine case, saying it was a separate issue.
Paris was especially eager to see the probe called off as it remained an obstacle in trade relations between the two countries before next week’s visit by President Xi Jinping to the French capital as part of a European tour.
China’s Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng yesterday welcomed the deal, which both sides hope will set a precedent in bilateral relations after the solar-panel spat last year.
“Since the resolution last year of the China-EU solar panel dispute via dialogue and consultation, China and Europe have been on the right track for dealing with trade frictions,” the minister said.
The agreement was reached by involving Chinese and European wine producers, with support from Brussels and Beijing, EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos said.
Under the deal, European producers have committed to providing technical assistance to help develop China’s wine industry. In return, Chinese buyers will promote European wine more widely in China.
France, the world’s biggest wine producer by value, has in the past called China’s decision to consider duties on French wine “inappropriate and reprehensible.”
EU wine exports to China excluding Hong Kong, which EU officials say was not covered by the investigation, reached 257 million liters in 2012, with a value of nearly US$1 billion. More than half came from France.
The EU is China’s most important trading partner and China is second only to the United States for Europe in terms of trade. But growing Chinese export volumes have raised concerns in the EU, which is struggling to overcome a debt crisis, about the impact on its industries.
China and Europe also resolved another dispute this week, when German chemical company Wacker Chemie said China had agreed to refrain from charging it anti-dumping tariffs on polysilicon, which is used in making solar panels.
Of the major disputes between China and the EU, just one over telecoms remains.
The European Commission has threatened to investigate accusations of unfair pricing by China’s Huawei, the world’s second-largest telecoms equipment manufacturer, and ZTE, the fifth largest. European manufacturers Ericsson, Nokia Siemens and Alcatel-Lucent told EU officials they have suffered as a result of cheap Chinese imports of telecoms gear.
Huawei and ZTE deny breaking any rules and both EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and China’s Gao have signaled that the dispute could be resolved soon. China’s decision to award billions of dollars in contracts to the three European firms to supply equipment for mobile networks is thought to have gone some way to easing tensions.
China is the world’s largest market for mobile data services and smartphones, and its market is growing more than 50 percent a year, according to Alcatel-Lucent.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
