BEIJING, June 27 (Xinhua) -- China always opposes trade protectionism and will not take protectionist actions against overseas companies or foreign goods, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said here Friday.

    He made the remarks when he met the Minister of Knowledge Economy of the Republic of Korea (ROK), Lee Youn Ho.

    Chen said that media reports were incorrect when they equated China's latest circular to boost domestic demand and step up supervision on construction projects with protectionism.

    Chen said in China's government procurement, the term "domestic products" also include products produced by legally established foreign-funded companies in China.

    "China applied to join the World Trade Organization's agreement on government procurement a couple of years ago, which allowed member countries to bid on each other's government tenders." Chen said. "We hope China might join the agreement soon so as to further open up the government procurement market," he said.

    "China would like to maintain stable development in economic and trade cooperation with the ROK," Chen said.

    Lee said that China's trade policies were fair and transparent, and his country would like to work with China to oppose trade protectionism.

China says "Buy China" criticism a result of misunderstanding

    BEIJING, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The government said Friday it was "a misunderstanding" by some foreign media which had labeled China's latest circular to boost domestic demand and step up supervision on construction projects as "protectionism".

    The remarks were jointly made by Yao Jian, spokesman with the Ministry of Commerce, and Li Pumin, spokesman with the National Development and Reform Commission, on Friday.

    China issued a circular in early June to boost domestic demand and step up supervision over public bidding for construction projects.  Full story

Protectionism is no prescription for woes

    BEIJING, April 10 -- China has to learn to better handle the relations between internal and foreign trade and between domestic and external demands to overcome the ongoing global economic crisis.

    Traditional domestic demand includes investment and consumption, with the former having played a pivotal role in driving the growth of the country's GDP. But investment can also give rise to inflation and result in an overheated economy because of an expanded credit and ever-growing production capability. Isn't it common knowledge that large-scale investments are followed by rigid macro-control policies?  Full story