China walks the talk on companies' rights and trade multilateralism
By Zhan Huilan
People's Daily app
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China’s move to list unreliable entities shows it is determined to safeguard the legitimate rights of its companies and defend the multilateral trade mechanism, amid uncertainties in today’s global economy.

The list of unreliable entities will apply to foreign enterprises, organizations and individuals that block and cut supplies to, or take discriminatory measures against Chinese companies over non-commercial purposes, that substantially damage the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies or relevant industries, and that jeopardize China’s national security, the Ministry of Commerce announced Friday.

The move proves that China will actively adopt countermeasures to safeguard the rights of Chinese companies and national security.

Facing increased tariffs and banned sales of China’ technology giant Huawei by the US government, China has not given in to the pressure. In turn, China announced increased tariffs on $60 billion worth of imported US products from June 1.

A spokesperson with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top planner, issued a warning Tuesday night on rare earths, saying that Chinese people will not be happy if anyone wants to use products made from China's rare earth exports to contain China's development.

Also, building the list signals that China firmly defends a multilateral trading system for the global market.

On one hand, unreliable entities that violate market rules could be harmful to other trade actors and the market itself, and such a list could serve as an effective mechanism to prevent that. On the other hand, China’s decision substantially opposes unilateralism and protectionism by the US, which will hurt US companies and consumers.

In a recent poll by Monmouth University, 62 percent of the respondents said it is American consumers that will bear most of the costs of the tariffs on Chinese goods, Xinhua reported.

"If you want to talk, the door is open; if you want to fight, we will fight to the end." This is the answer from Chinese people towards trade conflicts between the world’s two largest economies.

China always offers sincerity and openness in trade talks, but when necessary, China will take actions in response to baseless bullying behavior by the US.