Japan said yesterday it will join in a US complaint against China at the WTO over Beijing's industrial subsidies.
"We are planning to participate in the complaint as a third-party country," trade minister Akira Amari told reporters.
He said Japan decided to join the complaint after a request from Washington and hoped that China would address the issue.
"We have been providing China with aid and know-how since it joined the WTO so that they can make necessary changes," Amari said.
"This action by Japan to join the complaint as a third party is done in a spirit to encourage China to carry out the needed efforts," he added.
The US took China to the WTO on Feb. 2, getting tough after years of quiet diplomacy. The global body will set up a settlement panel if the two nations fail to iron out the dispute within 60 days.
The US says that Beijing's state subsidies for steel, paper, information technology and other industries make the prices of Chinese goods artificially cheap and prevent US companies from competing fairly.
Amari acknowledged that Japanese firms that have Chinese partners have benefited greatly from the protective measures.
"But we cannot tolerate it if it breaks the rules," Amari said.
China is Japan's largest trade partner, with Japanese companies depending on their giant neighbor as an industrial base and increasingly as a market for consumer goods.
Japan and China have recently been repairing relations.
Despite the efforts to improve relations, Japan and China still have a host of disputes including over oil and gas resources.
When bringing the case to the WTO, the US said it invited its foreign partners including the EU and Japan to join the case.
The US hauled China to the world body just after the Democrats, who have traditionally been more critical of China on trade issues, took control of the US Congress.
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