Production of semiconductor chip File photo: VCG

China's main foreign trade promotion agency said on Tuesday that it firmly supports the Chinese government in safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests through legal means, commenting on China's recent move taking US export control measures on semiconductors to the WTO dispute appellate and settlement mechanism.

In recent years, the US has placed a good number of Chinese companies on its "entity list" for export controls, while the original purpose of export control is to protect all countries from the threat of proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and relevant means of delivery, Yang Fan, a spokesperson for China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), said on Tuesday during a press conference.

Yang Fan, a spokesperson for China Council for the Promotion of International Trade

Yang noted that the US has resorted to export controls to strictly restrict Chinese enterprises to acquire high-performance computing chips, advanced computers, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment as well as related technologies, imposing technology coercion on China.

"What the US is doing in the name of safeguarding 'national security' is pursuing protectionism. It is suspected of violating the WTO principles of non-discrimination and quantity restriction, and seriously crippling the security and stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain," said Yang.

The CCPIT and its affiliate China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC) support the Chinese government's decision to resolve its concerns through legal means and maintain the stability of important industrial and supply chains such as semiconductors, the spokesperson said.

"We call on the US side to respect and abide by WTO rules and return to the big family of multilateralism at an early date," said Yang.

On December 12, China took legal action against the US in the WTO over Washington's semiconductor export controls, read a statement on the website of China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), calling the move "a necessary way to defend China's legitimate interests."

The US announced a broad set of technology export controls in early October, including a ban on exports to China of certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world using American equipment. 

The US export controls are trade protectionist practices. They undermine the international economic and trade order, violates international trade rules and basic economic laws, and harm the interests of global development, the MOFCOM statement said.

On December 18, China raised 312 written questions to the US, based on WTO rules during the WTO's 15th Trade Policy Review of the US, pointing out that US' trade protectionism is affecting the stability of global industrial chain.

Global Times