China blocked the European Union’s efforts to form two adjudicating panels at the World Trade Organization over Beijing’s economic sanctions against Lithuania, as well as high-tech patents.
The European Commission requested the panels at the beginning of December. But China called the move “puzzling” and “premature”, South China Morning Post has reported.
The EU said it will again request the WTO panels in January next year. China will no longer be able to block the proceedings, as member states can only veto such requests once.
Lithuania-China relations soured after a Taiwanese representative office was opened in Vilnius under the island’s name. In response, China imposed unannounced economic sanctions on Lithuania and a de facto blockade on the country’s imports.
In late January, the EU launched a WTO case over China’s “discriminatory trade practices” against Lithuania.
The second case concerns Beijing’s restrictions on EU companies’ rights to use a foreign court to protect their high-tech patents.
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