(Yicai Global) Jan. 26 -- The United States Trade Representative's 2017 Report to Congress on China's WTO Compliance evaluates China's adherence to its World Trade Organization obligations based on US domestic laws rather than WTO agreements and multilateral rules and is not true, Hong Xiaodong, head of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce's WTO department, said on the ministry's website.

This is the USTR's 16th such report since China joined the WTO in 2001, and unlike previous editions, this one is inconsistent and self-contradictory, Hong said. The previous 15 reports all hold an optimistic attitude toward China's accession to the WTO and give positive reviews of China's fulfillment of its commitments.

Several of them said that China's accession to the WTO has helped create many jobs in the US. Hong pointed out that the 2016 report said, "Following China's accession to the WTO, the Chinese government took many steps to implement China's numerous commitments. These steps unquestionably deepened China's integration into the WTO's rules-based international trading system, while also strengthening China's ongoing economic reforms."

China has comprehensively fulfilled its WTO commitments and has expanded market access based on WTO concessions. It has repeatedly cut taxes on goods. It reduced tariffs on 187 types of products including clothing and cosmetics last year. In the services sector, China promised to liberalize 100 sub-sectors when it joined the WTO, and it has opened up nearly 120.

The financial, distribution and transportation sectors in China's pilot free-trade zones are more liberalized than the country promised they would be when it joined the WTO. China has lifted more than 50 restrictive measures on foreign investment in manufacturing since its accession to the WTO. China will hold its inaugural International Import Expo in November, which will be the world's first large-scale imports-themed expo and is a significant move by China to open itself to the world, Hong said.

China's accession to the WTO has contributed to world trade and economic growth. The Chinese economy contributed to over 30 percent of global economic expansion last year, per International Monetary Fund and United Nations data. Since China joined the WTO, its goods imports rose to USD1.9 trillion last year from USD240 billion in 2001, totaling USD20 trillion during the period with an average annual rate of increase of 13.8 percent, which is twice the world's average annual import growth rate.

China has become a top three goods export market for 54 WTO members. The US's goods exports to China have soared 500 percent over the past 16 years since China's accession to the WTO, compared with a 90 percent gain in US's goods exports to other countries. China has become America's third-largest export market, up from eighth before it joined the WTO.

China has always been an active participant, a staunch defender and a key contributor to the multilateral trade system and it firmly upholds the WTO's basic principles of openness, transparency, inclusiveness, non-discrimination and compliance with rules, Hong said, adding that it actively partakes in WTO dialogs, consultations and negotiations.

Peaceful coexistence will benefit China and the US, while conflicts will hurt both, Hong said. Trade and economic cooperation has brought tremendous benefits to the two nations and their peoples. As the world's two largest economies and trading powerhouses, disagreements over trade between China and the US are normal. The key is to resolve these issues through friendly discussions rather than by threatening to take unilateral actions, said Hong.

When facing protectionism that harms its interests, China will take all necessary measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests, Hong said.