In response to the "Statement on the 301 Investigation" issued by the US Trade Representative Office on July 10, the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China stated the following:

First, the US filthy China's unfair practices in economic and trade exchanges, which account for the cheap, are distorted facts and untenable. The United States has fabricated a set of policy logics that distort the truth about Sino-US economic and trade relations because of domestic political needs and the purpose of suppressing China's development. In fact, the deep-seated problems in the US social economy are entirely caused by structural problems in the United States. The success of the Chinese economy has never been the success of pursuing "mercantilism", and it has never been the success of the so-called "state capitalism." It is the success of firmly promoting market-oriented reforms and continuously expanding opening up. First, on the issue of "China-US trade imbalance." The US said that there are a large number of trade deficits with China, and its figures are overvalued, and the main reason is not in China, but because the US domestic savings rate is too low and the US dollar plays the role of the major international reserve currency, which is the difference in industrial competitiveness and international division of labor. It is also because the US side has imposed artificial restrictions on the export of high-tech products that have a comparative advantage over the Cold War. Second, on the so-called "theft of intellectual property rights". The Chinese government has established a relatively complete intellectual property legal protection system, and has continuously played a leading role in the judicial protection of intellectual property rights, and promoted the establishment of intellectual property courts and specialized judicial institutions. In 2017, China’s external use of intellectual property fees reached US$28.6 billion, a 15 times increase over the WTO accession in 2001. Third, on the so-called "compulsory technology transfer" issue. The Chinese government has not made such a request to foreign-funded enterprises. The technical cooperation and other economic and trade cooperation between Chinese and foreign enterprises are completely based on the voluntary principle of contractual behavior. For many years, both enterprises have obtained huge benefits. Fourth, regarding industrial policies such as “Made in China 2025”. Under the conditions of a market economy, the Chinese government's implementation of these policies is mainly guiding and leading, and is open to all foreign-funded enterprises. Ironically, the United States itself has substantial subsidies in agriculture and manufacturing.

Second, the US side accuses China of disregarding China-US economic and trade differences and failing to respond positively. This is not true. The US side claimed that it has "always patiently" doing work for the Chinese side, and the Chinese side ignored it. In fact, China always attaches great importance to the economic and trade differences between the two sides. From the overall situation of safeguarding China-US economic and trade cooperation, we have been pushing with the utmost sincerity and patience, in order to meet the growing needs of the Chinese people and to promote the high-quality development of China's economy. The two sides resolved their differences through dialogue and consultation. From February to June this year alone, China conducted four rounds of high-level economic and trade consultations with the US, and issued the "Sino-US Joint Statement" on May 19, reaching an important consensus on strengthening bilateral economic and trade cooperation and not fighting trade. Due to domestic political needs, the US side has been erratic and rebellious. It has blatantly abandoned the consensus of both sides and insisted on a trade war with China. The Chinese side has done its utmost to avoid the escalation of economic and trade frictions. The matter has developed to this point, and the responsibility lies entirely with the US.

Third, the US has accused the Chinese side of counter-action without an international legal basis. In fact, it is precisely the US side that has unilaterally initiated a trade war without any international legal basis. In August 2017, the US side unilaterally launched a 301 investigation against China despite the opposition of the Chinese and the international community. In March 2018, the United States produced a so-called 301 investigation report. In spite of the 91% opposition in the solicitation of opinions, on July 6, a 25% tariff was imposed on China's $34 billion exported to the United States. On July 11, the United States intensified its efforts to announce a list of tariffs to be imposed on China’s $200 billion product. The US 301 investigation violated its president’s administrative statement to Congress under domestic law and violated its commitments made in the 1998 EU v. US World Trade Dispute case under international law. The US taxation measures are a flagrant violation of the WTO's MFN principle and the binding tariff obligations. They are typical unilateralism, trade protectionism, and trade hegemonism. They are a flagrant violation of the basic spirit and principles of international law.

4. The Chinese side is forced to take counter-action actions, which is an inevitable choice for safeguarding national interests and global interests. It is completely legitimate, reasonable and legal. Regarding the threat of trade wars repeatedly issued by the US, the Chinese government has repeatedly stated its principled stance of "do not want to fight, not afraid to fight, and have to fight when necessary." The Chinese side insisted on not taking the first shot, but was forced to adopt reciprocal counter-measures when the US took the lead in launching a trade war. The Chinese side is doing this in order to defend the national dignity and the interests of the people, defend the principle of free trade and the multilateral trading system, and defend the common interests of all countries in the world. The Chinese government has resorted to US unilateralism to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism. The Chinese government is forced to adopt corresponding bilateral and multilateral responses to the emergency caused by the unilateral US approach, which is in full compliance with the basic spirit and principles of international law.

5. The US trade war is not only aimed at China, but also the enemy of the whole world, which will drag the world economy into danger. Under the banner of "US priority", the United States has arbitrarily "retreated" and enemies on its own, not only launching 301 investigations on China in the name of intellectual property rights, but also launching 232 investigations on major global economies in the name of national security. Manufacturing trade frictions in important industries such as steel, aluminum and automobiles. At present, many WTO members have taken counter-measures against the United States and have resorted to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism. It can be said that the largest trade war in the economic history initiated by the US is not a trade war between China and the United States, but a global trade war. If the United States does this, it will bring the world economy into the "cold war trap", "recession trap", "anti-contract trap" and "uncertainty trap", which will seriously worsen the global economic and trade environment, harm the global industrial chain and value chain, and hinder the world. The economic recovery has triggered global market turmoil, affecting the interests of many multinational companies and ordinary consumers in the world.

6. China will continue to promote reform and opening up in accordance with the established deployment and rhythm, and work with all countries in the world to unswervingly uphold the principle of free trade and the multilateral trading system. This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up. In the past 40 years, China's rapid economic growth has relied on reform and opening up. In the future, the promotion of high-quality economic development still depends on reform and opening up. Regardless of the changes in the external environment, the Chinese government will continue to play a decisive role in the allocation of resources, protect property rights and intellectual property rights, give play to the important role of entrepreneurs, encourage competition, oppose monopoly, continue to promote openness and create attractiveness. The investment environment firmly supports economic globalization, firmly safeguards the international economic and trade system, and develops and shares prosperity with all countries in the world pursuing progress.