China suffers first defeat at WTO

Upholding a complaint from the European Union, Canada and US, the preliminary WTO finding agrees that current Chinese practice is protectionist.China has had its first defeat at the World Trade Organization (WTO), in a case centred on restrictions on the importation of foreign-made car parts."We can confirm that, in all major respects, the panel has agreed with the United States that China has acted inconsistently with its WTO commitments." China first joined the organisation in 2001, pledging to open up its domestic market to overseas firms and abide by WTO rules for international trade.The US announced last year that it was seeking a WTO inquiry over whether Chinese limits on imports of copyrighted US goods broke trade rules.Separately, the EU said earlier this month that it was considering launching WTO action against Chinese restrictions on foreign financial news groups.