中国就欧盟禽肉关税配额向WTO提起诉讼

China has filed a complaint to the World Trade Organization against the European Union, over high poultry tariffs.

EU tariffs on Chinese exporters are around 40 percent higher than those from other nations, and China's Ministry of Commerce says that is damaging their interests. China also says the EU is breaching international trade rules.

"In the EU market, Chinese poultry exporters are, in a manner of speaking, 'dancing with their feet chained'. They have to pay higher tariffs to sell their products to European buyers. China has decided to sue the EU with the aim of defending the principle of free trade and the interest of our poultry businesses," said Chen Fuli, deputy director of Department of Treaty and Law, Ministry of Commerce.

The European Union has set a quota for low-tariff poultry imports.

So far, the EU has given an overwhelming 96 percent of this quota to Brazil and Thailand, leaving just 4 percent to China and the rest of the world.

But because Chinese poultry exports to Europe are huge, the Ministry of Commerce says Chinese poultry companies now have to pay around 40 percent more in tariffs compared to their foreign counterparts.

"Clause 13 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade says tariff quotas should be distributed to importers without discrimination. In cases of several types of poultry, China's products make up over 25 percent of the EU's imports, and it is unfair that we get just 4 percent of the quota," Chen said.

The low quota was set for China in 2013, following the bird flu outbreak in China. But the Ministry of Commerce says the situation of one year should not form the permanent basis for an unfair quota.

Since it joined the WTO in 2001, China has petitioned the Dispute Settlement Body. So far, it has registered a total of 13 complaints for breach of rules, and also sued 21 times.

As China becomes a major exporter in the global trade, there is a growing demand from the domestic businesses to protect their overseas interest. The Chinese government says it is committed to the WTO rules and hopes that its partners can also play the game by the rules.