WTO cites a 'lack of transparency' on China's industrial subsidies

According to the WTO, China’s notifications on subsidies 'do not provide information on expenditure levels in sectors where government support is likely to have global repercussions, such as aluminium, electric vehicles, solar modules, glass, shipbuilding, semiconductors, or steel.'

While the US and the EU remain China’s most important export markets, their share has decreased over the last three years. Other markets including Russia, India or the Middle East have filled the gap. Photo: AP/Stephen B. Morton

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) highlighted China’s “lack of transparency” on industrial subsidies, suggesting the absence of such public information is fuelling complaints from other nations about the threat of Chinese goods flooding the global economy.

Beijing’s disclosures are not complete and detailed enough “to have a clear picture of China’s support programs,” the WTO secretariat said in a trade policy review of the world’s No. 2 economy and the first such appraisal since 2021.