The two sides will discuss Japan's emergency curbs on three types of farm product imported from China, including green Chinese onions, fresh mushrooms and rushes, and on China's special tariffs on three products made in Japan.

The meetings, at the department director level, will be attended by Chinese officials from the MOFTEC, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Agriculture, and Japanese officials from the Foreign Ministry, Finance Ministry, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

On April 23 this year, the Japanese Government started temporary protective measures against three farm products, including green onion, fresh mushroom and tatami rushes, which mainly imports from China.

The Japanese decision runs against the WTO rules in several aspects - the selection of products to investigate, the basic conditions to impose the protective measures, the objectiveness of the decision and some others, the Chinese ministry said on Wednesday.

The selection of the three farm products to investigate runs counter to the non-discrimination principle of the WTO. The Japanese side selected the three farm products, more than 90 percent of which came from China, for investigation. But it did not investigate those surging imports of farm products from some WTO members. Such an investigation has constituted nation-discrimination, the ministry pointed out.

China decided to slap 100 percent tariffs on imports of Japanese vehicles, mobile phones and air conditioners in retaliation for duties imposed on some Chinese farm imports by Japan in April.

Japan's automakers are hit the hardest by China's retaliatory measure. Japan exported a total of 4.45 million vehicles in 2000, of which 47,090 went to China, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.

(China Daily 06/30/2001)