On January 5, Sun Jiwen, spokesman at China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC), stated that trade frictions between China and other countries hit a new high in 2016, with nearly half of them involving the domestic steel industry.
Mr. Sun expressed the hope that each country would use trade remedy measures in a more prudent, restrained and normative way. “China is implementing a third round of tax reductions with Australia in accordance with the free trade agreement between the two sides”,he added, going on to say that Australia will implement zero tariffs on textiles and clothing, auto parts, and finished steel from China.