(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission is considering launching WTO action against China for restrictions on foreign financial news organisations, officials said on Wednesday.
“This is an important issue that we have raised on many occasions with the Chinese,” Commission spokesman for trade issues Peter Power told AFP. “We are now facing a potential decision on how to take this forward.”
China has come under criticism from Canada, the European Union, Japan and the United States for restrictions on foreign news agencies which are unable to sell information to local media.
“We need to see results, otherwise we will have no alternative but to pursue this (with) other means,” an EU trade official told AFP. “But dialogue remains our preferred option.”
If the matter cannot be solved through talks, logically the next step would be to bring it to the World Trade Organisation, one Commission source said.
“We have maintained in our talks with the Chinese that we will not rule out taking this matter to WTO if a solution cannot be found by other means,” the source said.
“In any event, I would note that taking matters to the WTO to find a positive solution where there is disagreement is business as usual for WTO members,” the source added.
In September 2006, China renewed the monopoly held by the state news agency Xinhua, which precludes foreign providers of financial information services from dealing directly with Chinese clients. Instead they have to go through a Xinhua affiliate.
“Xinhua is both a competitor of European financial services information providers and their Chinese regulator,” the Commission source lamented.
“This creates a situation that is unfair and puts foreign suppliers at a disadvantage,” the source added.
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