China's Wen Urges EU To Ease High-tech Goods Export Limits

23/05/2009 12:00 - 634 Views

PRAGUE (AFP)--Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called on the European Union Wednesday to ease limits on exports of high-tech goods at an E.U. summit in Prague.

"We hope that the European Union will relax its restrictions on the export of high-tech products to China and foster new growth areas in our business cooperation," he told journalists after the summit.

He also reiterated Beijing's long-standing hope to see E.U. nations grant China market economy status and lift an arms embargo.

Market economy status is a standard often used in antidumping cases. Recognition as a market economy raises the bar for when a country can be considered to dump products on the world market.

Two-way trade has exploded in recent years, making the E.U. the top destination worldwide for exports of Chinese goods while China is Europe's biggest trade partner after the U.S.

Last year they traded EUR326 billion in goods, with Europe running a EUR169.4 billion deficit with China.

Wen said Beijing would soon dispatch a Chinese delegation on a European procurement mission after a similar mission earlier this year.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Source: www.nasdaq.com