China Irate Over U.S. Piracy Complaints to WTO

Vice Premier Wu Yi, China's senior envoy on trade relations with the U.S., warned today that American complaints to the World Trade Organization over Chinese product piracy and commercial barriers will "badly damage" cooperation on trade issues. Earlier in April, the U.S. filed two complaints accusing China of failing to stop widespread piracy of film and music and barring imports of American publications. "The adverse impact generated by this would be huge," she said at a government forum on intellectual property protection in Beijing. Wu claimed the U.S. has disregarded the progress China has made on combating commercial piracy and said the U.S. complaints to the WTO "[fly] in the face" of an agreement to settle such disagreements through dialogue. She did not clarify whether she will be addressing the WTO complaint with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, her American counterpart, who is under growing Congressional pressure to take a firm stance with China. She did say, however, that Beijing will "actively respond" and "will fight to the last minute."

Sources: Reuters, News.com, MoneyCentral
Commentary: Open Skies Agreement Between U.S. and China? Not Anytime Soon • Chinese ETFs Should Keep Pace With Growing Economy • Chinese Consumers: Acting Globally and Thinking Locally
Stocks/ETFs to watch: PowerShares Golden Dragon Halter USX China Portfolio (PGJ), iShares FTSE/Xinhua China (FXI)

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