In the News: China-US Trade War White Paper, Draft Nuclear Energy Law
September 25, 2018 | BY
Jacelyn JohnsonChina released a White Paper defending its position in the U.S.-China trade friction, which aimed to clarify facts on the bilateral economic and trade relations; Draft Atomic Energy Law aims to strengthen and promote Chinese nuclear firms in the international market.
China Releases White Paper to Clarify Its Position on Trade War with US
On Sept. 24, China published a white paper clarifying its economic and trade relations with the United States, demonstrating China's stance on the trade war, and its plans to pursue reasonable solutions. The white paper was published on the same day new U.S. levies on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods followed by Beijing's new tariffs on about $60 billion worth of U.S. imports came into effect.
According to the white paper, the two countries have set up a number of communication and coordination mechanisms such as the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, and the Comprehensive Economic Dialogue, in an attempt to meet each other halfway in the spirit of equality and rationality.
The white paper acknowledged that both the China and the U.S. were at different stages of development with different economic systems, and therefore some form of trade friction was bound to happen. “The key, however, lies in how to enhance mutual trust, promote cooperation, and manage differences,” said the white paper.
The 36,000-word white paper consisted of six parts including mutually beneficial U.S.-China cooperation in trade and economics, facts on the U.S.-China trade relations, a detailed explanation on the U.S. government's protectionist and intimidating trade practices and damages caused to global economies including China's.
China's Draft Nuclear Energy Law Aims for Global Expansion
China released a draft Atomic Energy Law on Sept. 21 which aimed to provide support for nuclear firms to strengthen their positions in the international market.
Under the draft legislation, China will encourage enterprises to actively participate in “the development of international markets and promote the export of nuclear power, nuclear fuel and related equipment and technical services”. The draft law also stipulates a development policy of establishing a national nuclear fuel cycle system including uranium exploration and mining, the recycling of used fuel and disposal of radioactive waste.
The draft legislation comes as a supplement to the Nuclear Safety Law, which came into effect in January 2018. The draft law is open for public comments until Oct. 19.
China aims to bring its total installed nuclear capacity to 58 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2020, up from 37 GW at the end of June this year. China also aims to dominate the global market and has created a unified third-generation reactor brand known as the “Hualong One” to increase the global use of Chinese technology.
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