SHI TING

The mainland has vowed to take action against its trading partners to counter what it claims is global protectionism as it stands poised to surpass Japan as the third-largest trading entity in the world by the end of the year.

"We're bracing for more trade frictions as they come along," Xinhua quoted Zhang Xiangchen , deputy director of the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Foreign Trade, as saying at a forum in Changsha .

The mainland faces the highest number of dumping charges in the world.

"We take it as something unavoidable during our development to a global trading power," Mr Zhang said.

The government will devise more effective measures to counter "discriminatory trading practices" by their trade partners, he said, without going into detail.

Authorities have already said they would adopt more "anti-dumping, anti-subsidisation and protective measures to regulate international trade order and to protect the security of domestic industry", Xinhua said.

According to World Trade Organisation data released on Monday, China has reported 11 anti-dumping cases in the first half of the year, behind only the United States, which initiated 21 and the EU's 13.

At the same time, the mainland remains at the top of the list of countries subject to dumping charges.

During the first six months of the year, it has been investigated 23 times over the suspiciously low prices of its export goods and ended up being penalised with 16 anti-dumping measures.

The threat to play the anti-dumping card looks highly credible as the country's imports have been the major engine of world trade growth for the past few years.

Last year, the mainland became the world's third-biggest importer of merchandise goods after the US and EU.

Overall, the country ranked as the fourth-largest trader last year, with a total merchandise trade volume of US$854 billion, just US$0.7 billion lower than that of Japan.

The mainland has been crying foul over rising global protectionism since its accession to the WTO in 2002.

It has been the world's No1 country facing dumping charges on its exports, accounting for 20 per cent of all global cases in 2002 and 16.7 per cent last year.

"China is being turned into the primary target of global protectionism," said Long Guoqiang , deputy director of foreign trade at the State Council's Development and Research Centre.

Rapid growth rates and the low price base of the mainland's exports have triggered a flow of protectionist actions not only from developed countries, but from developing and emerging markets, Mr Long said.