Beijing, China - Sept 25, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Press briefing of China's State Council Information Office in progress
2. Reporters
3. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zou Jiayi, China's Vice Minister of Finance (partially overlaid with shot 4):
"China is a member of the WTO and our subsidy policies are strictly in compliance with the WTO rules. The WTO divides subsidies into three categories. The first category is prohibited subsidies, mainly referring to export subsidies and local content subsidies. The second category is actionable subsidies. A member country can resort to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism if another country's subsidies may cause some distortion and unfairness to international trade, or cause adverse effects to the interests of the member country. The third category is non-actionable subsidies which refer to those that would not lead to market distortions and unfair trade."
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4. Various of reporters
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5. Various of reporters
6. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zou Jiayi, China's Vice Minister of Finance (partially overlaid with shot 7):
"Since China's accession to the WTO, China has always been working actively for the compliance reform of Chinese rules and regulations. Our subsidies now feature a main part of non-actionable subsidies, with a supportive role of actionable subsidies. We have abolished prohibited subsidies across the board. Meanwhile, we earnestly implement the WTO's agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures."
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7. Reporters
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8. Reporters
9. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zou Jiayi, China's Vice Minister of Finance (partially overlaid with shot 10/ending with shot 11):
"All in all, China is strictly honoring its WTO commitments. The level and the means of China's subsidy has not exceeded the scope stipulated by the WTO, and has not led to market distortion and unfair competition. In practice, wherever we discover any local subsidies that are illegal, we will absolutely hold them accountable."
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10. Reporter taking photo
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11. Press briefing in progress
12. Reporters
13. Press briefing in progress

China's subsidy policies are strictly in compliance with the WTO rules and would not lead to unfair competition in the market, said Zou Jiayi, China's Vice Minister of Finance at a press conference of the State Council Information Office on Tuesday.

Zou said that under the conditions of a market economy, subsidy is a policy tool used by the government to deal with market failure or to correct development imbalance. This kind of policy tool is widely used in countries, including China and the United States.

"China is a member of the WTO and our subsidy policies are strictly in compliance with the WTO rules. The WTO divides subsidies into three categories. The first category is prohibited subsidies, mainly referring to export subsidies and local content subsidies. The second category is actionable subsidies. A member country can resort to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism if another country's subsidies may cause some distortion and unfairness to international trade, or cause adverse effects to the interests of the member country. The third category is non-actionable subsidies which refer to those that would not lead to market distortions and unfair trade," said Zou.

Zou added that in accordance with the WTO's transparency principle on subsidies, China regularly gives notification to the WTO on the amendment and implementation of the relevant rules and regulations.

"Since China's accession to the WTO, China has always been working actively for the compliance reform of Chinese rules and regulations. Our subsidies now feature a main part of non-actionable subsidies, with a supportive role of actionable subsidies. We have abolished prohibited subsidies across the board. Meanwhile, we earnestly implement the WTO's agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures," added Zou.

As a developing country, China has been reforming and improving its subsidy policies. Although there is still need for further improvement, China's subsidies will be non-actionable on the whole and the use of actionable subsidies will also be minimized.

"All in all, China is strictly honoring its WTO commitments. The level and the means of China's subsidy has not exceeded the scope stipulated by the WTO, and has not led to market distortion and unfair competition. In practice, wherever we discover any local subsidies that are illegal, we will absolutely hold them accountable," said Zou.