China Resorts to WTO in Electric Car crisis with Europe
Sudan Events – Agencies
China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Friday that the findings of the European Union’s preliminary ruling on imported electric cars lack factual and legal basis and seriously violate World Trade Organization rules.
A spokesperson for the ministry said in a statement on Friday that China has resorted to the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanisms regarding the EU’s temporary countervailing measures on electric cars. Chinese state media reported that the ministry said it reserves the right to file lawsuits with the WTO over the EU’s plan to impose temporary duties on imported Chinese electric cars
In a separate internal context, Chinese asset management company Harvest Fund Management said on Friday that Chairman Zhao Xuejun had resigned and was cooperating with authorities regarding an investigation related to “personal problems,” without elaborating.
The co-chair of the fund, An Guoyong, will serve as acting chairman.
Harvest Fund Management said in a statement that the investigation was not related to the company’s fund business, adding that it was operating normally.
Zhao is among the longest-serving fund managers in China.
His departure comes after Beijing intensified its crackdown on its financial sector, with Zhao becoming the most senior executive at a major asset buyout firm to be investigated.
Reuters reported in July that two asset managers had asked their employees to return their salaries as part of Beijing’s “common prosperity” campaign aimed at tackling social and income inequality as economic growth slows.
China’s securities regulator has ordered some brokerages to review their bond trading activities, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as authorities seek to rein in frenzied buying of Chinese government bonds.
The brokerages, all operating in the domestic market, have been ordered to conduct compliance checks on all parts of their bond trading operations, said the people, two of whom had direct knowledge of the instructions. They were not authorized to speak to the media and declined to be identified.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
China’s faltering economy, hampered by a prolonged property crisis, has sent investors — from big banks to insurers and even mutual funds — flocking to the bond market as banks continue to cut deposit rates and stocks remain volatile.
China’s central bank has repeatedly warned against buying bonds recklessly, fearing a potential bubble that could end in a Silicon Valley-style banking crisis.
