China's Ministry of Commerce yesterday expressed "serious concern" at
Argentina's recent restrictions on Chinese goods.
"It is neither reasonable nor acceptable for the Argentine side to make such
moves without notifying China in advance," said the ministry's spokesman.
On Aug 17, the Argentine government announced abruptly that it would initiate
a series of restrictions on imports of products including tyre and wheel,
garments, toys, leather, shoes, textile products, bicycles and computers, and
made it clear that the restrictions were mainly aimed at Chinese products.
Meanwhile, the Argentina customs last Friday stopped to clear goods from
China and several southeast Asian countries.
"As one of the founding members of the World Trade Organization(WTO),
Argentina has stonewalled Chinese products' legal accession in defiance of the
WTO rules, which harms China's rights and interests endowed by the WTO rules,"
said the spokesman.
China demanded Argentina to clear all the Chinese goods under detention
according to international practices on trade.
On Thursday, Argentine customs resumed to clear goods from Asiaand has
adopted stricter examination on related consumer products.
The ministry said it would keep a close eye on any development of the issue.