European Commission vice-president Jyrki Katainen (left) and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing yesterday. Despite being on the same page about upholding the multilateral trading system, both sides disagreed over creating a level playing field for foreign firms operating in China. AFP
SINGAPORE — China and the European Union have pledged to uphold the multilateral trading system in the face of the United States’ unilateralism, and have agreed to set up a working group to look at updating the World Trade Organization (WTO).
But after an economic and trade dialogue yesterday, differences between the two sides over creating a level playing field for foreign companies operating in China appear to remain wide, with the EU representative admitting that negotiations on these issues will not be easy.
The EU wants issues such as subsidies for state-owned firms and forced technology transfer – which it has labelled as unfair Chinese trade practices – to be addressed in the reform of the WTO.

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