(New York Times – Reuters)
The European Union pressed China on Wednesday to amend its trade practices to stop technology theft, counterfeiting and discrimination against foreign companies, after it failed to make Beijing budge on its exchange rate.
Opening a day-long meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao of China, the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, said the commercial relationship between China and the European Union, worth 327 billion euros ($453 billion) in 2009, was vital for the global economy.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the leader of Europe’s biggest exporting country, met Mr. Wen on Tuesday evening and pledged to work for China to be granted the European Union’s coveted “market economy” trade status by 2016. That would give Beijing better protection against European antidumping penalties – a major irritant for the Chinese. Read more here.
