China counts cost of trade rules

Companies surveyed said that they did not have enough money to comply with the standards or simply did not know that some countries had changed certain rules.

 

Chinese products from honey to cigarette lighters are often subject to complaints about consumer safety from the EU, the US, Japan and South Korea.

 

“The textile industry has been most affected by barriers, taking up to 43 per cent of the losses,” said the report.

 

“Exports of food, poultry, wood products, electronic and machine products were also greatly affected.”

 

But China is also a target for complaints that it puts up technical barriers of its own to hinder trade, many times citing its health and safety rules.