China still striving for "market economy" status from EU

BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Years of lobbying by the Chinese government didn't convince the European Union (EU) to grant China market economy status Wednesday at the EU-China summit in Prague, but the EU said it was willing to deal with the issue objectively.

The EU made the remark at the 11th annual EU-China summit after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao expressed his hope that the EU would recognize China's market status soon, during the one-day summit.

Wen noted that recognition from the EU would benefit both sides. That view was shared by experts interviewed by Xinhua, who said the status would boost bilateral trade, especially amid the global economic downturn.

Zhang Junsheng, director of the WTO Research Institute at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, told Xinhua Thursday that it had been expected that the EU would not recognize China's market economy status during the summit.

China has sought to achieve market economy status since the government made a decision to reform its economic system in 1984. Achieving that goal would help the country avoid punitive anti-dumping measures.

The EU would probably wait till 2016 when all countries had to grant China that status under the terms of China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, Zhang added.

Michael Pulch, Deputy Head of Delegation of the European Commission to China, told Xinhua by e-mail Thursday that China had made tremendous economic progress since the reform and opening up drive that began 30 years ago. However, he declined to comment on why the EU refused to recognize China's market economy status.

"Transforming a planned economy into a market economy takes time and requires not only adopting rules and legislation but also proper implementation by all authorities and business in all sectors," he said.