Claims that the Chinese government's report to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on subsidies lacked transparency were refuted by officials on Thursday.

A Ministry of Commerce (MoC) official said China had met all the WTO obligations on subsidies in line with its accession to the organization. The government had been gathering information on subsidy policy.

However, a Ministry of Finance official said difficulties existed in obtaining accurate and complete information.

The European Union (EU) and the United States (US) claim China's report on industry subsidies, which has been evaluated for the first time by the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, lacks transparency.

The MoC said the charge would "dampen" the evaluation made by the committee.

MoC spokesman Chong Quan said the US and EU were also criticized for their delay in notifying their agriculture subsidies and pointed out that the data of both was last updated in 2001.
 
Chong said China has made determined efforts in subsidies policy notification.

The report which was submitted to the committee in April includes 78 government policies and measures. He said the inclusion of items didn't mean the government had made a decision on them but it was done on transparency grounds. .

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2006)