The US has lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organization against Chinese restrictions on US suppliers of financial information, Trade Representative Susan Schwab said Monday.
"China's restrictive treatment of outside suppliers of financial information services places US and other foreign suppliers at a serious competitive disadvantage," Schwab said in a statement.
"We have raised this matter with China repeatedly, yet the problem has not been resolved."
She confirmed that the European Union also requested formal WTO consultations with China on the matter on Monday.
The dispute has been brewing since September 2006, when China renewed the monopoly held by state news agency Xinhua, which precludes foreign providers of financial information services from dealing directly with Chinese clients.
"We hope the filing of our requests for formal WTO consultations will lead to a swift resolution of this matter," Schwab added.
"It is not in China's interest to restrict access to the high-quality, comprehensive financial information provided by foreign service suppliers.
"Financial market professionals in domestic and foreign banks, investment firms and other businesses in China need real-time access to this information from diverse sources -- foreign and domestic -- in order to make effective business decisions."Agence France Presse
