The World Trade Organization (WTO) has criticized the Chinese government for not being transparent about subsidies provided to its major industries.
According to the South China Morning Post, the WTO held a trade policy review meeting for China and revealed this through a 173-page report.
The WTO multilaterally reviews the trade policy to examine the transparency of member countries’ trade policies.
According to the report, the Chinese government shared details about the subsidy support program during the evaluation period. However, the information provided by China was insufficient to determine the scale of subsidies given to Chinese companies.
The report further notes that China’s subsidy notification lacked detailed information about the extent of financial support in key industries that could impact global markets, including aluminum, electric vehicles (EVs), solar modules, glass, shipbuilding, semiconductors, and steel.
It has been repeatedly described in detail that Chinese authorities present operations according to market principles. Still, the scale of subsidies provided by funds established to invest in industries has not generally been notified to the WTO. The estimated size of the fund ranges from 1.9 trillion yuan (approximately $30 trillion) to 6.5 trillion yuan (approximately $1,034 trillion).
Furthermore, the report highlighted a growing systemic imbalance resulting from China’s distorted industrial policies and practices, which extensively support manufacturing sectors, distorting the global competitive environment.
