Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng has urged WTO members to implement on schedule the 15th article of the Protocol on the Accession of the People's Republic of China.

The article allows WTO members to adopt prices or costs of export products from a third country to substitute those of China's products when calculating the dumping margin. It is allowed when a Chinese enterprise cannot prove its products meet market standards. However, it also stipulates such behavior should end when the article expires in December this year.

"The article has a regulation period of 15 years. It says that if other WTO members recognize that Chinese industries and enterprises meet the conditions of market economy within 15 years, the behaviour can be terminated immediately. However, what is most important is that the behavior must be terminated after 15 years since China's entry into the WTO. That is to say, any anti-dumping against China's exports must be based on the prices and costs of China's products to calculate the dumping margin. The 15th article is an obligation that every WTO member must observe and implement. It has no links with the so-called standard of market economy position put forward by some countries according to their domestic legislation," Gao said.