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Maintaining a fair and open multilateral system with the WTO at
its center benefits global economic growth and is in the
interests of everyone, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang
said.
"Since China joined the WTO it has always proactively supported
the WTO's work, and this position will not change," he told a
daily news briefing, when asked about the U.S. proposal.
China's Commerce Ministry declined immediate comment.
In an annual trade policy agenda document released to Congress
on Wednesday, the U.S. Trade Representative's office said the
administration "will not tolerate" unfair trade practices that
distort markets.
These range from currency manipulation and unfair government
subsidies to intellectual property theft, it added.
The document signals that the administration may try to push the
limits of what is acceptable under WTO rules in its quest to
make good on campaign promises to slash U.S. trade deficits with
China and Mexico, and bring home manufacturing jobs.
It marks a departure from the Obama administration's strict
adherence to WTO compliance in its challenges to unfair foreign
trade practices.
China, worried that its export-dependent industries will suffer,
has repeatedly urged global leaders to reject protectionism,
which Trump has championed with his "America First" campaign.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Yawen Chen;
Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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