The minister, while recognizing anti-dumping measures as a reasonable and reliable mechanism within the World Trade Organization (WTO) framework, said China hopes to make the measures fairer during ongoing trade liberalization talks.

He said China will also take an active role in regional economic co-operation, especially with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, and sub-regional economic co-operation.

Lu was speaking at the weekend during the China Development Forum, held by the Development Research Centre under the State Council, which ends today.

The Ministry of Commerce was created during the 10th National People's Congress this month, by incorporating the domestic and foreign trade administrations of different government departments. The move is designed to streamline the management of the trade industry.

Lu said the commerce ministry will soon set up an office to crack down on market irregularities and will make moves in promoting a unified domestic market over the next few months.

"A major aim of establishing the Ministry of Commerce is to unify domestic and foreign trade, and to tutor enterprises on giving up regional protectionism and standing up to a larger global market," the minister said.

"The prospect for companies only focusing on the regional or domestic markets is gloomy."

They are expected to run into operation difficulties because falling tariff rates will hit domestic industries.

Lu noted the unification of the domestic market depends heavily on a complete legal system and said he hopes laws against regional protectionism will be introduced soon.

The minister also has counterfeiting in his sights, which he said has run rampant in some regions and requires urgent and significant action.

Lu said the ministry is planning a national meeting to discuss the best way to crack down on forgery.

He is also proposing to set up more company credit evaluation centres across the country.

Improving laws and nurturing "good faith" is essential within the market, but an immediate task is to find enough capable people to sort out the market order, Lu said.

He said trade disputes were a normal phenomenon within the WTO framework and that anti-dumping measures were reasonable and reliable mechanisms, but more effort was needed to look at how such measures could be properly adopted.

China has been involved in the largest number of anti-dumping cases, partly due to the extraordinarily rapid growth in its exports in recent years and due to foreign countries' unfamiliarity with China's market conditions. Lu said China will work to ensure anti-dumping measures are not unfairly put in place against China in the current round of WTO trade negotiations.

He said China had been a constructive WTO member since its entry in December 2001.

China's steel safeguard measures, in response to US steel tariffs, were adopted on the principles of indiscrimination, fairness and transparency, and have taken into consideration domestic demand, Lu said.

China is still the world's largest steel importer, buying 29.1 million tons from overseas last year, up 14.1 per cent year-on-year.

Lu said setting up a free trade zone with ASEAN members takes priority among China's present regional economic agenda.

Co-operation between China and other regions and countries, with their differences in development levels and culture, depends on growth in bilateral trade and other issues of common concern.

(China Daily March 24, 2003)