EU chamber welcomes China easing procurement rules

(BEIJING) - The EU Chamber of Commerce in China on Thursday welcomed Beijing's repeal of policies said to have blocked firms from accessing some areas of the nation's lucrative government procurement market.

The finance ministry announced earlier this week that from July 1, it would abolish three measures linked to China's indigenous innovation campaign, which aims to encourage the development of domestic technology.

The rules drew fierce criticism from foreign governments and companies, who complained the regulations favoured domestic firms and squeezed them out of the government's multi-billion-dollar procurement market.

"The repeal should be welcomed as a step forward towards leveling the playing field," Davide Cucino, president of the European Chamber, said in a statement.

"The repeal represents another step forward following clarification from the Chinese government to the European Chamber in December 2009 that indigenous innovation policies were never intended to be discriminatory."

In April, the chamber accused China of trade protectionism for refusing to grant EU companies equal access to the procurement market.

Beijing acknowledged that the procurement mechanism had some shortcomings, but said it still followed the principles of "justice, fairness and openness."