Commission updates report on state-induced distortions in China’s economy

This report provides relevant factual information for ongoing and future EU trade defence investigations related to antidumping. It will enable EU industry, when filing complaints about dumping practices, to use the most up-to-date information on the Chinese economy and on specific circumstances of the market, and in selected industrial sectors.

The update of the 2017 report examines recent Chinese legislation, evolving industrial policies and other developments. The previous report proved to be an essential tool for gathering evidence to initiate and carry out anti-dumping investigations in sectors where prices and costs were affected by significant state-induced distortions.

Its main findings focus on:

• Cross-cutting distortions, such as the role of the state in the allocation of resources and identification of economic objectives, the role of the planning system, and the importance of state-owned enterprises.
• Distortions in the factors of production, such as discriminatory allocation and access to resources, such as land, labour, raw materials, and energy.
• Distortions in selected sectors, such as state support, including preferential access to finance, in specific industrial sectors.

The report itself, or the inclusion of certain sectors therein, does not automatically lead to the application of any particular dumping calculation method. If during the investigation and on the basis of all evidence available – including the report – it is found that Chinese prices and costs in particular sector are distorted, they will be replaced with prices and costs from another third country with undistorted market conditions in the same sector, to calculate eventual dumping. This would be done on a case-by-case basis, building on the evidence available. During each investigation, all parties concerned, including the government of China as well as exporting producers, can comment on findings in the report.

Background

Similarly to the version published in 2017, the updated report is a technical, fact-based document which draws on many publicly available sources. In particular, this takes into account Chinese legislation and policy documents, and information from international organisations, such as the IMF, OECD or WTO, as well as from academic sources.

For more information

2024 report on distortions in the economy of China

2017 report on distortions in the economy of China