China's Accession to the WTO: Impact on Anti-dumping Legislation & Practice

As a corollary to China's twenty-plus years of economic reform, the country has gradually exposed itself to international trade and investment forces. Today, the increase of international trade in goods and services has naturally generated pressure for protection of the domestic industries that compete with imports. Under these circumstances, China established its legislation on anti-dumping and anti-subsidization, which form the fundamental legal basis for the Chinese government to investigate the alleged unfair trade practices.

By way of review, the first anti-dumping case targeted imports of newsprint from Korea, the US and Canada, and was initiated on December 10 1997 soon after the promulgation of the PRC Anti-dumping and Anti-subsidy Regulations¹ (the Anti-dumping Regulations). To date, five anti-dumping cases, in newsprint, silicon steel sheet, stainless steel sheet, polyester film and acrylates (first case), have reached their definitive findings and determinations; one, (the methylene chloride case) has reached its preliminary findings; and five cases, in polystyrene, lysine, polyester chips and fibre, and acrylates (second case), are still in their preliminary phases.² In addition, according to our information, several petitions for new cases are in the process of being filed.

At this critical time, we would like to provide an overview of further developments in anti-dumping legislation and practices in China, which are critical in assessing the impact of China's accession to the WTO.