James Delahunty
13 Aug 2009 12:45
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has handed a victory to the United States in a complaint made in 2007 against China over the its system for the import of American media products including music, movies, magazines, books and other products. The U.S. has maintained that China's imposed limitations have helped a large counterfeit market to flourish in the country.
The WTO ruling has ordered the Chinese government to ease up on the limitations on foreign films, music and print, but it did not make any ruling on Chinese censorship. According to the ruling, China was breaking international trade rules by blocking foreign-owned companies from acting as importers and wholesale providers of media products.
"China expresses regret that the panel did not reject the US complaint about the import and distribution of printed material, films and music," China's commerce ministry spokesman Yao Jian said in a statement. "China will carefully evaluate the panel's report and does not rule out appealing on issues of concern to the Chinese side."
The United States called the WTO ruling significant. The ruling also specifically stated that China's policy of preventing U.S. music download companies from offering their services to Chinese customers was breaking trade rules.