China yesterday rejected European Union calls for cuts in tariffs to help to kickstart world trade talks, as it defended its right to protect key industries from overseas competition.

European negotiators in Beijing succeeded in securing further talks on the thorny issue of steel tariffs, but they were left disappointed by China’s reluctance to accept international trade norms.

Peter Mandelson, the European Trade Commissioner, had urged China to stop seeing itself as a developing nation and to accept fair access to its markets and play an equal role with the EU and the United States in re-opening the Doha Round of trade talks.

However, in comments that may add to political pressure to protect Europe from one-sided Chinese competition, Bo Xilai, the Trade Minister, insisted that China deserved a special status in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), despite completing its five-year probationary period.

Mr Bo attacked EU anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese shoes and spoke bluntly of his “regret” at the WTO case brought by the EU and US over allegedly protectionist taxes on foreign car parts. He told Washington to withdraw threats to bring a further WTO case over theft of intellectual property rights (IPR).

The EU visit saw the signing of an agreement for a network of 50 offices across China to combat counterfeiting and IPR abuse, which affects everything from fake DVDs through to baby milk and, in the case of MAN, the German vehicle maker, a whole bus allegedly copied by a Chinese company.

European companies were given little encouragement that China would further relax punitive tariff and non-tariff barriers, such as the enforced sharing of technology through imposed joint ventures.

Mr Bo’s counterattack on the WTO car parts case will cause particular frustration for European manufacturers, which are being pushed by Beijing to source 40 per cent of parts in China, despite lack of capacity, with heavy tariffs if they do not.

After talks of nearly four hours, one senior EU official said: “They have to become more responsible, but so far they are not. We are still trying to get them to implement commitments made in 2001 [at the start of China’s WTO entry process] and it is very, very slow.”

Mr Mandelson arrived on Monday with a toughly worded paper on a new EU-China trade pact, accepting vigorous competition from the People’s Republic but demanding an end to “unfair” business practices. He gave warning yesterday that if trade were not handled properly, it was “capable of seriously impeding — even jeopardising — the development of our wider relationship”.

Mr Mandelson also appealed for “a new order of engagement” between the EU, US and China, with Beijing “playing a much more active role in helping to steer the WTO negotiations in the Doha Round . . . China’s benchmark is not to be found in the developing world. It plays in a different league. The expectations are higher.”

However, Mr Bo said: “To China, in 2001 we already made a tremendous contribution in terms of market opening. The treatment of old member and new member (of the WTO) should be different.”

Almost 200 million Chinese still lived below the poverty level of $1 a day, Mr Bo said, adding: “Those who call for opening wider China’s market to the outside world must bear in mind the basic position of China as a developing country.” He said that EU anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese shoes had caused “a lot of dissatisfaction in the Chinese industry”.

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