EUROPE

EU levies stiff anti-dumping tariffsChina Daily reported on September 16， Beijing， that the new import tariffs imposed by the European Union (EU) on ceramic tiles made in China would keep more than 1，000 Chinese exporters out of the European market.The EU placed the import tariffs on the tiles on September 15， and Chinese exporters of bathroom， kitchen and paving tiles will face anti-dumping duties ranging from 26.3 to 69.7 percent at European borders， Reuters reported.“The EU’s move will greatly affect China’s tile industry. With the introduction of a maximum tariff of 69.7 percent， more than 1，000 Chinese exporters will lose the EU market. The exception is the 121 tile makers who will pay the normal tax rate，” said Guo Cheng， vice-director of the information department of China Ceramics Industrial Association (CCIA).The EU initiated an anti-dumping investigation of Chinese-made ceramic tiles in June， 2010. The investigation， involved exports worth US$310 million and more than 1，400 exporters mainly from South China’s Guangdong province.In its preliminary verdict published on March 17， the EU imposed provisional anti-dumping duties as high as 73 percent on most of China’s tile exporters.Appeals from Chinese enterprises and industrial associations reduced the five-year punitive duties to between 26.3 percent and 69.7 percent， according to Guo.“We will take our chances with a Sunset Review in the coming years to protect the domestic tile industry，” Guo said.A Sunset Review is a review of anti-dumping verdicts after the exported product has been taxed for five years to decide whether to extend or stop the tariff.Guo also said the CCIA is planning to examine whether the EU is dumping medium- and high-quality tiles in China under world trade rules.The European debt crisis， which slammed the continent’s real estate industry， and the increasing costs faced by the European tile industry， reduced the sales of European tile makers.“China’s tile exports to European markets have increased by only 1 percent since the European debt crisis， while the sales of European tile producers dropped by more than 40 percent.The debt crisis and the growing cost of fuel， power and transportation are responsible for the EU’s shrinking tile industry，” Lan Weibing， a director of the CCIA， told the industry portal www.ceramicschina.com.Guo said that the EU’s punitive tariff is “closely related to trade protectionism， and it was levied to reduce the pressure on European tile makers troubled by increasing unemployment and factory bankruptcies”.On June 30， 2010， the European Commission launched investigations on anti-dumping and safeguard measures against Chinese-made wireless wide area networking modems and subsequently launched an anti-subsidy investigation against the product on Sept 16， 2010.The investigation， involving Chinese exports of modems worth US$4.1 billion， is the biggest trade remedy case with regard to the export amount.China， Russia to build sustainable trade tiesAccording to Xinhua’s report on September 15 from MOSCOW， visiting Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo said China would work with Russia to deepen pragmatic cooperation and build a close， long-term and sustainable economic and trade relationship.Wu， chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC)， made the remarks in a meeting with Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.“Sino-Russian relationship has seen unprecedented progress and bilateral cooperation in various fields has reached an unprecedented level” since the two countries signed the China- Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness， Friendship and Cooperation in 2001， said Wu.“China will as always make Sino-Russian relations as its foreign policy priority and treat bilateral ties from a strategic height and long-term perspective，” said the Chinese top legislator.On the economic and trade front， Wu urged the two nations to take the opportunity in expanding pragmatic cooperation in a comprehensive manner， which he said constitutes a material foundation for bilateral ties.“As the world’s major emerging economies， China and Russia enjoy complementary advantages in areas like capital， technology， market and manpower resources，” said Wu， putting forward proposals for furthering trade cooperation between the two neighbors.For a start， the two countries should promote cooperation in major projects and expand trade on mechanical/ electrical and high-tech products in a bid to meet the target of increasing trade to US$100 billion by 2015 and US$200 billion by 2020， said Wu.Secondly， the two countries should strive to establish energy cooperation partners by speeding up construction of national gas pipelines， securing stable operation of crude oil pipelines and facilitate cooperation on nuclear power， coal， electricity and new energy.Wu also called on the two sides to enhance high-tech cooperation and work on regional cooperation by increasing cross- border infrastructure construction and studying the possibility of setting up trade cooperation zones.Putin said China is Russia’s reliable cooperation partner， adding that it is important to further advance Russia-China strategic cooperation partnership under current circumstances.Russia attaches great importance to relations with China and would work with China to facilitate friendly exchanges between governments， parliaments and parties so as to boost bilateral ties in a comprehensive way， said Putin.China vows to boost European investmentChina Daily reported from Dalian， Liaoning Province on September 15 that Premier Wen Jiabao said that China is ready to increase its investment in debt-ridden Europe， and urged the European Union(EU) to recognize China as a full market economy.“European countries are facing sovereign debt problems and we’ve expressed our willingness to give a helping hand many times. We will continue to expand our investment there，” Wen said while addressing 1，500 business leaders and government officials at the opening of the World Economic Forum， known as the “Summer Davos”.Wen said that he reiterated China’s support to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in a recent phone call.However， he added that “EU leaders and the leaders of(Europe’s) major countries must look at Sino-EU relations from a strategic viewpoint.“Based on WTO rules， China’s full market economy status will be recognized by 2016. If EU nations can demonstrate their sincerity several years earlier， it would be the way a friend treats a friend，” he said.He said he hoped his scheduled summit meeting with EU leaders next month will lead to a breakthrough in recognition.Wen also expressed concern over the spread of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. China sits on more than US$3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves.He urged the United States and some European countries to tackle their problems properly.“Europe and the US must adopt responsible and effective fiscal and monetary policies in a bid to reduce debt pressures，” Wen said during discussions with business leaders at the forum.Wen’s comments came as global markets have been rocked by renewed fears that Greece will default on its debt obligations.Portugal and Ireland have also received rescue packages. There is growing speculation that Italy and Spain could follow suit.The Financial Times reported that Italy had asked Beijing to buy “substantial quantities” of its debt.Chen Fengying， director of the Institute of World Economic Studies under the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations， said that the debt crisis could very likely lead to a total collapse of the euro and the European Union.“And that will end in a situation that no one wants to see - a single international financial system dominated by the US dollar，” she said.She noted that that EU’s biggest problem is not their huge debt and high unemployment， but lack of unity.There are now two foreseeable measures to deal with the problem， she said.The first is to let Greece go bankrupt and stabilize the euro zone， ensuring the safety of other economies， such as Italy. The second is for Germany， the largest economy in the EU， to reorganize the entire European market to tackle the crisis.“I think China should support the EU on tackling the crisis， because we’d like to see diversity in the global financial market， with the euro playing an important part，” she said.China， Russia delegations seek ways to improve investment environmentAccording to report of Xinhua from Irkutzsk， Russia， on September 13， Chinese and Russian delegations to an international economic forum had an open and heated discussion about how to establish mutual trust and improve bilateral investment environment.However， the two sides started the talks with complaints on each other’s problems that have made the investment environment not so friendly.Citing a report by the World Bank， which ranked China as the world’s No. 22 and Russia behind the 100th in terms of ability of drawing foreign direct investment， the Chinese delegation pointed out the Russian investment market is not open nor attractive enough for Chinese capital.“Since Chinese companies could make more money at home， why should they run the risk of investing in the Russian economy?” asked Wang Huajiang， an official of China’s National Development and Reform Commission.Wang， who is in charge of establishment and implementation of major Sino-Russian cross-border cooperation projects， assured his Russian colleagues that fast development of Chinese economy will never impose threat to nor endanger its neighbors.“Some Russians should abandon the menace theory upon China’s development. If not， our cooperation could not be further deepened，” the Chinese official said.Moreover， port construction along the Russia-China border has nearly been halted over the past five years， he said.In its turn， the Russian delegation， headed by Russian Regional Development Minister Victor Basargin， complained many Chinese investors are only interested in big projects.“They don’t cast an eye at the small- or medium-size projects，” said Geniatulin Ravil Faritovich， governor of the Zabaykalsky Krai federal region， adding some investors always intend to become major share-holders in joint enterprises.