"Learning to protect ourselves in the global trade community is of pivotal importance for us to sustain our economic development," said Ma Xiuhong, vice-minister at MOFTEC.

"As a newcomer to the world trade club, we should work actively to learn to take advantage of relerant WTO rules," she said.

The vice-minister made the remark Wednesday at a nationwide working conference on Fair Trade for Imports and Exports, running June 5-7, the first of its kind after China gained WTO membership.

With the reduction of tariffs as required by the WTO, non-tariff measures are the most commonly adopted weapon nowadays when the idealist notion of globalization, of which free trade is the core, is challenged by worldwide economic stagnation.

Many measures against Chinese products were taken in the name of ''protecting the environment and consumers' rights" or "violations of intellectual property rights."

Figures from MOFTEC show that by the end of April this year, a total of 494 anti-dumping and safeguard-measures cases had been launched against China by 32 countries and regions involving more than US$15 billion worth of Chinese exports.

In the past four months, a rising number of trade disputes have been filed against Chinese enterprises and their products. A total of 58 anti-dumping and safeguard-measure-related cases were initiated against China, up 25 percent from the previous year.

Some experts said to a certain extent the relatively low price of Chinese products and the rapid rise in China's exports have triggered such a large number of anti-dumping actions.

"We should get prepared to defend our industries as quickly as we can," the vice-minister said.

According to Ma, though the Chinese Government has already taken many measures to counter international trade protectionism, ''that's far from enough." She added that the government is now speeding up the enactment of laws and regulations on fair trade for imports and exports.

"And we will enhance the transparency of the government operation as well as enhance our communication and co-operation with industrial organizations and enterprises," she said.

Since China's entry into the WTO last December, an increasing number of Chinese enterprises have learned to protect themselves in compliance with the WTO rules.

However, the vice-minister pointed out that Chinese enterprises should take further efforts to better defend their interests against overseas protective measures.

In addition, domestic enterprises should learn more about international practices and strengthen their self-discipline to enhance their competitive edge, Ma said.

Figures show that by the end of May this year, the country had initiated 19 anti-dumping investigations, most of which involve chemical products.

(China Daily June 6, 2002)