Beijing, February 4:

China has said it regrets a US decision to haul Beijing before the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over its industrial subsidies, calling Washington’s move a ‘pity’.

“It’s a pity for the United States to seek the consultation process at the World Trade Organisation,” a Chinese commerce ministry spokesman said late Saturday, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

The spokesman said authorities in Beijing would be ‘deliberating’ the US case, adding that the two sides had ‘kept bilateral contact over the issue all along’.

The United States filed its complaint with the Geneva-based trade body on Friday, with US trade representative Susan Schwab saying the time for negotiations had been ‘exhausted’.

Her office said tax breaks and tariff exemptions encourage Chinese companies to buy Chinese-made

equipment rather than imports, while financial incentives help firms to export their goods.

State subsidies for steel, paper, information technology and other industries allow China to export its goods on the cheap and so prevent US companies from competing fairly, both at home and in third markets, it said.

The US action triggers formal consultations between Washington and Beijing

at the WTO. If those consultations fail to resolve the matter within 60 days, as is likely, Washington can appeal to a WTO dispute settlement panel.

It is the third time that the United States has taken China before the WTO since Beijing joined the organisation in 2001, but is the first case to cover such a wide array of complaints.