INNOVATIVE DESIGNS: A visitor checks out a car covered with moss at the 2013 China (Shenzhen) International Industrial Design Fair, held in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, from November 30 to December 3 (MAO SIQIAN)

Trade Dispute

China on December 3 filed a complaint under the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism over anti-dumping measures by the United States against 13 types of Chinese products.

China has officially launched the WTO dispute settlement procedure and called for consultations with the United States under the mechanism, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said in a statement.

"In its anti-dumping investigations and reviews, the United States has inappropriately applied targeted dumping methodology and denied companies' separate tax rates," MOFCOM spokesman Shen Danyang said in a statement.

These practices, which do not comply with WTO rules, have resulted in Chinese products mistakenly deemed as having been dumped, and have severely magnified dumping margins, Shen added.

The spokesman said anti-dumping measures launched by the United States for 13 types of Chinese products, including oil well pipelines, involved a total export value of $8.4 billion.

He said that China is resolutely against the misuse of trade remedy rules and protectionism. "China will also determinedly maintain its rights as a WTO member and safeguard the interests of domestic industries," he said.

Prior to this, China filed 12 complaints under the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism and won 11 of them.

VAT Reform Expanded

China will continue to expand the scope of its pilot program to replace turnover tax with value-added tax (VAT) by including two new sectors under the reform, an official document revealed on December 4.

The country will incorporate the railway transportation and postal service sectors into ongoing VAT reform starting on January 1, 2014, according to a statement released after an executive meeting of the State Council, China's cabinet.

VAT is tax levied on the difference between the cost of production and the price of a commodity on the market. It is favored partly because it can reduce double taxation.

Following regional experiments since the beginning of 2012, VAT reform was rolled out throughout the country on August 1, reducing taxes on businesses by 94 billion yuan ($15 billion) in the first 10 months of this year.

At present, the reform only focuses on certain service sectors, such as transportation on roads, waterways, air and pipelines, as well as some modern service areas such as information technology, cultural innovation and consulting services. After the expansion, the entire transportation industry will be covered by the VAT trials.