The spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce answered questions from reporters regarding the joint ministerial statement issued by the United States to address the issue of "structural capacity and overproduction" in some economies

Q: On October 7th Eastern Time, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the United States has recently convened a meeting of senior officials from 14 economies to jointly sign and issue a ministerial level joint statement to address the so-called "structural capacity and overproduction" issues. What is the comment of the Ministry of Commerce on this?

Answer: We have noticed the relevant situation. The Chinese side has repeatedly expressed its views on the issue of so-called "overcapacity" on different occasions and issued a special position paper in July this year.

China has always believed that when dealing with production capacity issues, we should adopt a comprehensive, objective, and fair attitude, and not politicize economic and trade issues out of concerns about our own industrial competitiveness and market position. China opposes individual countries using the pretext of so-called "overcapacity" to engage in trade protectionism, which will only disrupt the global economic and trade order and stabilize the supply chain, and bring long-term risks to world economic growth. If in the future, relevant economies use this as an excuse to take measures that harm China's interests, China will make necessary responses.

China insists on building a modern industrial system through open cooperation and supports the construction of a fair and reasonable international economic order. China calls on all parties concerned to adhere to multilateralism, advocate mutual benefit and win-win results, respect market rules, and jointly maintain an open and inclusive global supply chain cooperation pattern.