The city government of Shanghai has decided to implement a series of measures to help local industry prepare for the expected growth in the number of anti-dumping cases over the coming years.

The measures were initiated by the Shanghai Economic Commission, a watchdog of local economic activity.

One highlight of the measures is the planned establishment of a special fund, mainly financed by local industrial enterprises and the city government. The fund is expected to provide financial support for those enterprises faced with high costs in dealing with anti-dumping cases, according to Tang Dengjie, the commission director.

The city will also set up an industry damage investigation bureau under the commission and corresponding subsidiary bodies, mainly at corporate and industrial association levels, as a major task force in the city's anti-dumping campaign.

Shanghai plans to initiate a city-level industry damage warning system to track key sectors and commodities that are easily affected by imports, said Tang, who attended an anti-dumping working conference in the city Monday.

He said: "We must realize not only the opportunities of China's entry into the World Trade Organization - more importantly, we need to face the accompanying tough challenges."

Tang was referring to the urgent need for Chinese enterprises to sharpen their global competitiveness, improve their ability to innovate, and learn the WTO rules as well as related international practices, given the enterprises' increasing integration with the global economic community.

Experts warned that it is high time for Chinese enterprises to learn how to use WTO rules such as anti-dumping measures to protect their own interests.

Despite a robust average annual growth rate of nearly 13 percent over the past two decades in terms of export trade, Chinese enterprises experienced more than 300 anti-dumping cases during the 1990s. The cases involved more than 4,000 types of commodities, ranging from colour TVs to steel products.

Local Shanghai enterprises, such as Baosteel Corporation and Shanghai Chemical Plant Company, were involved in 20 such anti-dumping cases over the past five years, including six suits in which local companies filed dumping charges against their foreign counterparts.

Guan Weiyong, senior official of the Shanghai Economic Commission, warned that enterprises must be more active and not merely hope to win anti-dumping lawsuits brought against them.

(China Daily July 16, 2002)