Commentary: EU lawmakers' refusal to recognize China's market economy status biased, myopic

In a move that clearly bows to industry lobbyists, the European Parliament on Thursday passed a resolution urging the European Union (EU) not to grant China a market economy status, which reflects a kind of bias and myopia.

Though it is non-binding, the very fact that an overwhelming majority(with 546 votes in favor and 28 against) of EU lawmakers refuse to recognize China as a market economy may as well cast a shadow on China-EU trade ties, which have been thriving for years and produced tangible benefits to both sides.

Many of the EU lawmakers opting not to grant China market economy status cited China's failure of meeting the five EU criteria defining a market economy, according to European media reports.

However, simply by browsing through the list of countries that EU has already recognized as market economies, one would find that such a standard has never been the first and foremost factor in EU's decision to grant the market economy status.

Another reason the EU lawmakers refuse to recognize China as a market economy is that they fear such an endorsement would harm certain industries within the bloc.

Resembling the sentiment behind recent protectionist calls by the European steel industry, such concerns could hardly resonate at a global level since the essence of global trade is to give play to one's comparative advantage.

The non-market economy status of China has often become a convenient weapon for trade protectionists. Statistics show that 56 out of 73 of EU's current anti-dumping cases involves a Chinese product.

Nevertheless, the undoubtedly protectionist practice is obviously out of time. Despite its existence, bilateral trade between China and the EU have been growing quickly. China is now the EU's second largest trading partner, with their daily trade surpassing 1 billion euros (1.13 billion U.S. dollars).

As many experts have pointed out, in the long run, the EU has more to gain than it would lose by designating China a market economy.

Being an important member of the World Trade Organization, the EU also has a legal obligation to scrap before the Dec. 11 deadline the unfair practice of using a surrogate country to decide if a Chinese product is sold at an artificially low price in the European market.

It is advisable for EU policy makers to focus on the bigger picture of EU-China trade, instead of being swayed by narrow-minded protectionists, so as to usher in a more prosperous future for the bloc. Endi