Photo taken on July 15, 2020 shows an exterior view of the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. (Photo by Li Ye/Xinhua)

China's Commerce Ministry (MOFCOM) on Monday blasted the US government's distortion of facts by claiming that China's justified trade measures are "economic coercion," saying that China is firmly opposed to the US unilateralism and its bullying practice.

Recently, the US Trade Representative Office published a report on China's WTO compliance, which denies China's achievements in delivering its WTO accession commitments, and accuses China's economic and trade system and policies create monumental challenges to global trade.

"The Chinese side has noticed the false claims in the [US] report," an official with the Ministry of Commerce commented in a statement seen on the ministry's website.

The official noted that the US neglects China's remarkable achievements in delivering WTO accession commitments, distorted the marked progress of China's economy and reform and opening up, and denied China's important contributions to the multilateral trade system and the world's economic growth.

The report reflects the US unilateralism and bullying by maliciously denigrating China's economic and trade policies, claiming China's justified trade measures as "economic coercion," and labeling China's countermeasures to US' illicit trade blockade and crackdown as "proactive decoupling" and causing its production overcapacity, the official said.

Since joining the WTO, China, as the largest developing member, has firmly supported multilateral trade system and practiced true multilateralism. China earnestly fulfills its WTO commitments by continuing to improve its socialist market economy system and the law system, expanding high-level institutional opening up, comprehensively participating in WTO reform and actively help other developing economies, especially the least developed countries, to integrate with the multilateral trade system.

In 2023, China become the first large developing country to ratify WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, led the members complete negotiations on the text of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement to achieve a substantial conclusion on several global digital trade rules, the official said, adding that various parties highly praise China's constructive role and China's contribution to WTO.

Under the slogan "America First," the US has violated WTO rules in recent years by implementing unilateral trade bullying measures, making discriminatory industrial policies and disrupting global industrial and supply chains. These practices have seriously impacted global trade order and harmed the mutual interests of WTO members, to which, China and other members have repeatedly expressed concerns, the official said.

The WTO Dispute Settlement Body has ruled that the US measures violated WTO rules. But the US has refused to implement the ruling and "paralyzed" the WTO dispute appellate body, which caused serious harm to the multilateral trade system.

The US does not reflect on or correct its own behavior, but instead uses smearing and blame-shifting methods to cover up its violations. This is extremely irresponsible, the MOFCOM official said.

"We once again call on the US to promptly correct its wrong words and deeds to earnestly abide by WTO rules and its own pledges, and work with other members, including China, to jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system with the WTO at the core, and play its due role in dealing with global challenges," the official said.