BEIJING: The European Union Chamber of Commerce has accused China of trade protectionism for refusing to grant EU companies a level playing field in the lucrative government procurement market.
In a report released Wednesday, the chamber also urged China to increase transparency in the bidding process and ensure the fair evaluation of contract tenders.
"Currently European companies are barred from much of this estimated one trillion US dollar market through poor implementation of overlapping regulations," chamber president Jacques de Boisserson said in a statement.
"It is vital that this enormous market be regulated in a transparent and non-discriminatory way."
The chamber said barriers keeping EU companies out of the market also included a lack of clarity on bid criteria and an unsatisfactory appeals process.
Such barriers give Chinese companies and unfair advantage over foreign enterprises seeking to bid government contracts, said the report, which as based on surveys of many top EU companies working in China.
The government procurement market is just one bone of contention for foreign firms in China, who have increasingly complained over the past year.
China's Western trading partners accuse it of making it difficult for foreign companies to operate in the country. Beijing, though, has been vocal in its opposition to protectionism and denies it puts up investment barriers.
The state-run Global Times newspaper quoted a Chinese trade lawyer saying China was entitled to give preferential treatment to its own companies as the nation was not a signatory of the government procurement agreement under the World Trade Organisation.
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