China ‘regrets’ EU’s allegation of intellectual property theft lodged with World Trade Organisation

China voiced regret over the European Union’s decision to lodge an intellectual property rights complaint at the World Trade Organisation, just as Beijing is embroiled in a similar dispute with Washington.

The EU brought the challenge to the WTO on Friday, accusing Beijing of unfairly requiring foreign firms to hand over their technology to Chinese companies to do business in China.

“China expresses regret over the EU launching the complaint and will properly handle it according to the WTO dispute settlement procedures,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement published late on Sunday.

“The Chinese government has always attached great importance to the protection of intellectual property rights and has adopted many powerful measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of domestic and foreign intellectual property rights holders,” it said.