The European Union has refused to grant China the coveted Market Economy Status (MES) following a request submitted by Beijing last June, the bloc's executive Commission said today.
"Remaining shortcomings in four broad areas, which affect the conduct of anti-dumping investigations, mean that it is not possible to grant MES at this stage," the statement said.
The Commission said the finding only concerned trade defence investigations, covering anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases.
"MES does not have an impact on the number of anti-dumping/anti-subsidised cases; it is simply a method to calculate AD (anti-dumping) duties," the Commission said.