Chinese enterprises ought to work out a comprehensive and long-range development strategy, bear the importance of anti-dumping campaign in mind and be on the alert against any possible anti-dumping measures, insgroupsto protect their legitimate rights and interests on the international markets, some experts suggested.

　　The 15-member European Union has taken a first step to open up its markets to imported Chinese colour television sets after two years' negotiations stemming from charges of dumping against manufacturers in China.

　　A deal reached on August 29, but never officially announced to the public, will allow seven of China's largest TV manufacturers to sell a limited number of sets in the EU without hassles at Customs, while imposing a minimum price on each TV set to prevent dumping.

　　Manufacturers refused to confirm the figure, but said the EU's move to scrap anti-dumping measures would be of little help to their business growth in the short term.

　　"The number is very small given that we exported a total of about two million units in the first six months this year, of which about 1.6 million units were sold to the United States," said Liu Zhonghai, sales planning vice-director of Sichuan Changhong, China's largest TV set-maker in terms of sales volume. From January to July this year, China exported 9.26 million TV sets, or 47.2 per cent more than in the same period last year. The value of the exports rose 47.3 per cent to US.08 billion.

　　Changhong and another leading industry player, Konka, said their exports to the EU had been almost zero as a consequence of the anti-dumping measures. This is despite the comparable market size and buying power of the EU and the United States.

　　The mainland's big seven TV set makers won the high-profile anti-dumping case against the EU, ending a dispute that has been dragging on for almost 15 years. The seven domestic TV producers are Sichuan Changhong Electronic Co Ltd, TCL Holdings Co, Xiamen Overseas Chinese Electronics Co, HaiersgroupsCo, HisensesgroupsCorp, KonkasgroupsCo and Skyworth Group.

　　Assuming the mainland's big seven TV set makers share the 400,000 quota equally, each of them would only be allowed to export about 57,000 units a year.

　　A spokeswoman for the EU delegation to China stationed in Beijing said the EU was obliged to keep the agreed minimum prices and quota on China's TV set exports confidential.

　　Despite the quota and floor price, the EU will also charge a hefty 44.6 percent tariff on each set to protect European manufacturers from losing too much market share to their cheaper rivals.

　　Neither the floor price nor the numbers of sets Chinese manufacturers are allowed to sell in the EU have been made public.

　　Though the deal doesn't reduce the tariff imposed on imports from China, domestic companies are still hailing it as a victory.

　　"The breakthrough is that the EU will not interfere with Chinese TV manufacturers' marketing activities" as long as the made-in-China TV sets are sold above the floor price, said an official with the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronics, which was entrusted by the seven companies to negotiate with the EU.

　　In the past, Chinese companies have accused the EU of blocking imported sets at the boarder.

　　While the deal wasn't expected to aid Chinese manufacturers much in the short term, "it signals a more standardized EU market which will phase out trade protectionism," said Liu Haizhong, a spokesman for Sichuan Changhong Electronics. Liu said that China's entrysintosthe World Trade Organization late last year played a role in ending the dispute. As a WTO member, China is expected to open up markets to overseas companies and investors while other WTO member economies open their markets to Chinese firms.

　　Accept the challenge actively

　　An official with China's Foreign Trade Ministry has called on mainland industries to set up an "anti-dumping alert mechanism" to protect themselves. The official said the country's car, chemical fertilizer and steel industries had already established such a mechanism.

　　Some analysts said quite a number of Chinese manufacturers were not very familiar with relevant laws and regulations on dumping charges in Europe, and for this reason, their inaction to face up to complaints raised by their Europeans counterparts, has inflicted upon them losses of lofty profits and market share.

　　Chinese enterprises ought to work out a comprehensive and long-range development strategy, bear the importance of anti-dumping campaign in mind and be on the alert against any possible anti-dumping measures, insgroupsto protect their legitimate rights and interests on the international markets, some experts suggested.

　　Background

　　The TV spat began in 1988 when the EU's then 12 member began investigating accusations of dumping against TV manufacturers in China and South Korea. When none of China's 87 domestic TV makers responded to the suit, the EU imposed a 15.3 percent anti-dumping tax on sets imported from China. The tax rose to 25.6 percent in 1995 and 44.6 percent in 1998.

　　In 1999, Xiamen Overseas Electronics hired a Belgium law firm to prove they weren't engaged in dumping - the act of selling goods in a foreign market below production cost.

　　Six other Chinese TV makers joined the fight in 2000.

　　Su Zaiquan, a spokesman for Xiamen Overseas Chinese Electronics, denies the dumping charges, suggesting the EU imposed the taxes to protect the profits of European companies, such as Dutch-giant Philips and France's Thomson.

　　Seven leading Chinese colour television makers declared in August, 2000, they would not cower even in face of little hope of winning the European Union's anti-dumping review.

　　"We will actively and carefully respond to the EU's review no matter what the outcome will be," said Guo Zeli, president of Xoceco, at a symposium on anti-dumping organized by the China Business Times.

　　Xoceco is China's first colour television maker that responded to the EU's anti-dumping suit in April 1999.

　　It asked the Brussels-based Van Bael & Bellis (VBB) to act as its attorney agent and was later joined by six other Chinese colour television giants in its efforts to answer charges of dumping on the EU market.

　　Chinese firms fighting the charge, besides Xoceco, included Changhong, TCL, HiSense, Skyworth, Panda, Furi and Konka. Some others were also expected to follow. Meanwhile, Konka also responded to the EU anti-dumping review on its own.

　　Chinese colour television makers protested that it is unfair for the EU to regard China as a non-market economy and wrong to use Singapore markets to decide the domestic prices of Chinese televisions.

　　Singapore has a better economic development level than China and higher labour and material costs, said industry experts.

　　Even if Chinese colour TV exporters raise their prices above those of Singaporean companies, another substitute country with even higher prices may be picked next for comparison, still nailing Chinese firms for dumping.

　　Chinese colour television makers were told that one of the keys to the success of the suit is negotiation with accusers, led by the Netherlands' firm Philips.

　　"With large amounts of investment in China, Philips has common interests as well as conflicts with Chinese companies on both the China and global market," he said.

　　With no reaction from China, the EU accepted Philipps' dumping accusation of Chinese companies and imposed a 15.5 per cent anti-dumping tax on colour television imports from China in 1991. The tax rate was raised to 25.6 per cent in 1995 and then to 44.6 per cent in 1998.

　　The high tax rate blocked China's exports to the EU, which fell from several hundred thousand each year in the early 1990s to about 30,000 in 1999. The 44.6 per cent anti-dumping tax ran out of validity in April but Philipps again filed against Chinese colour TV makers. Almost all name-brand Chinese colour television makers were listed among the accused.