U.S. Scolds China for Distorting Market Ahead of Trump's Asia Trip
- Beijing reacts to U.S. not classifying China as market economy
- Tensions on the rise as Trump prepares to visit Beijing
People wait in line outside the Great Hall of the People before the opening of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017. Chinese President Xi Jinping warned of “severe” challenges Wednesday, as he kicked off a twice-a-decade party meeting that may signal if he will appoint a successor to rule after 2022.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergChina said the U.S. refusal to classify it as a market economy was a "serious distortion" of the facts, as tensions between the superpowers heated up just days before President Donald Trump’s first trip to Beijing.
The U.S. decision "ignored massive achievements China made in building a market economy," harms the interests of Chinese companies and should be corrected, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday. “The Chinese government will adopt necessary measures to safeguard the legal rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” a spokesperson said in a statement on the ministry’s website.