MNI POLICY: US Must Correct Wrongdoing to Further Talk: MOFCOM

     BEIJING (MNI) - China will make no concession on major matters of principle

and Washington must make a sincere gesture and correct its wrongdoings should it

wish to resume trade negotiations, Gao Feng, the spokesman of the Ministry of

Commerce (MOFCOM) said in a briefing on Thursday.

     "The future development of the trade negotiation depends on the U.S.," said

Gao. "China will keep an eye on how the U.S. acts," he said.

     Gao spoke on the same day when the ministry released a report on how the

U.S. benefited from trading with China, which according to Gao is to use data

and facts to refute U.S. claims of suffering losses in trading.

     "Even though China enjoys the trade surplus, both countries have shared the

gains," Gao said.

     Here are other key points from the briefing:

     - China will set up the "non-reliable entity list" according to

international practices, aiming to safeguard the market order of fair

competition. The list will not aim at specific industry or company, but target

companies that damage the legitimate rights of Chinese firms through supply cut

or blockade out of non-commercial purposes. More details will be released soon.

     - The launch of the "non-reliable entity list" dose not go against WTO

rules, citing exceptions under WTO rules allowing countries to protect their

national securities.

     - China is actively preparing for the Group of 20 gathering of finance

ministers and central bankers in Japan over the weekend, and will send

corresponding levels of representatives. Gao didn't confirm media reports about

the possible meeting between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and China's

central bank governor Yi Gang.

     - China boosted imports of soybean from Brazil and Argentina while

shipments from the U.S. declined 70.6% y/y for the first four months. China will

also expand soybean trade with Russia, according to Gao.

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: wanxia.lin@marketnews.com

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 10 8532 5998; email: william.bi@mni-news.com

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