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China voices displeasure at import restrictions

BEIJING: Following a spate of anti-dumping measures initiated by the Indian government against Chinese goods, China has warned India that resorting to trade protectionism would “undermine the interests of the Indian people.”

A senior official in the Ministry of Commerce has urged India to “talk to China first” before imposing further restrictions and risking jeopardising a trade relationship that has grown rapidly in the recent years.

India imposed a number of anti-dumping duties and import restrictions early this month on a range of products from China, including toys, textiles, chemicals and mobile phones to protect domestic industries affected by the current financial climate.

The Chinese government on Thursday expressed its displeasure at the restrictions. “China opposes trade protectionism in any way,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. “Chinese products are both inexpensive and of high quality…If India shuts the doors on Chinese goods, it will only undermine the interests of the Indian people.”

On Tuesday, the Indian government announced a two-year 30 per cent safeguard duty on import of aluminium products from China.

This followed an announcement last week of a five-year duty on the import of Vitamin-C from the same country.

Officials in the Ministry of Commerce have, in recent weeks, voiced concerns over the increasing frequency of New Delhi’s measures.

“We are not happy that this has happened too often in such a short period of time,” Liang Wentao, a vice-director in the Ministry of Commerce, told The Hindu in a recent interview. “In less than three months, this issue has come up many, many times.”

Mr. Liang called for a greater dialogue between the two countries to ensure that the anti-dumping dispute did not derail the rapidly growing trade relationship. Bilateral trade grew by 34 per cent last year reaching $51.78 billion. China is now India’s largest trading partner.

“If the decision taken by Indian authorities is legal and soundly grounded, we respect the decision,” Mr. Liang said. “But we just hope that before they take such measures the authorities talk to us first.”

According to the Ministry of Commerce, India initiated 17 investigations into the import of Chinese goods worth $1.5 billion between October 2008 and February 2009.

India filed 42 anti-dumping cases at the World Trade Organisation in the second half of last year — the most by any country. Seventeen of those cases were directed against China.

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