China pledges new WTO procurement offer by July: U.S..

BEIJING -- China agreed to submit a “robust” revised offer to join the World Trade Organisation's government procurement accord by July, the United States Treasury said in a statement summing up the results of talks in Beijing this week.

The commitment, made at the Sino-U.S. Strategic & Economic Dialogue in Beijing this week, comes after meetings in which U.S. negotiators pressed China on government purchase regulations that foreigners see as discriminatory.

China had previously submitted an offer to join the GPA, which foreign negotiators rejected as inadequate. In a bilateral meeting in October, it pledged to submit the revised GPA offer during 2010.

Foreign firms are eager to continue to sell to government bodies in China, the world's third-largest economy.

Regulations issued last year that would have forced government entities to prioritize “indigenous innovation” when purchasing have unleashed a concerted push by foreign governments and industry associations, because of concerns they would be at a disadvantage when selling products not developed in China.

China's Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said this week the indigenous innovation rules had been misunderstood, and were linked to research and development policy, not trade.

U.S. officials said they were pleased with some concessions China has made in the regulations, but continued to be concerned over the way it might be applied.

China also issued draft regulations allowing goods made by joint venture firms to be treated as domestic products in government procurement tenders, if they include 50 percent local content, according to an S&ED fact sheet issued by the United States.

China had also committed to national treatment for products made by Sino-foreign joint ventures during the October meeting. Those draft regulations are now in circulation for public comment, the U.S. Treasury Department said.

China for its part had sought U.S. guarantees on fair treatment for Chinese state-owned firms seeking to buy American firms, as well as a relaxation in U.S. controls over certain high-tech exports.

Source : chinapost.com.tw