Containers are seen at the Yangshan Deep Water Port in Shanghai, China (Photo by Reuters)

Beijing, February 18 (RHC)-- U.S. allegations that China is causing harm to workers and violating trade commitments are inconsistent with international economic and trade rules, the Chinese government has said.   “China's economic achievements in the past 40 years are due to its successful reform and opening-up policy," Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said on Thursday. 

Gao’s remarks come on the heels of a new assessment report released by the U.S. Trade Representative's office on Wednesday, which accused China of “violating, disregarding and circumventing WTO rules to achieve its industrial policy objectives.”

The annual report said the U.S. needed to take new strategies and update its domestic trade tools to deal with China's “state-led, non-market policies and practices.”  Gao hit back,saying: “We believe, as a member of the World Trade Organization, that the U.S. is obliged to abide by WTO rules, instead of creating a new set under the name of pursuing new strategies to practice unilateralism, protectionism, and bullying.”

He said that his government hopes the US would “adopt rational and pragmatic economic and trade policies toward China” and would bring China-U.S. relations back to the right track of stable development.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a sweeping legislation aimed at increasing American competitiveness with China and boosting US semiconductor manufacturing. The bill will invest billions of dollars in American manufacturing and scientific research in a bid to take on China's growing economic dominance.

Relations between the U.S. and China - the world’s two biggest economies - have been strained over a range of issues from trade to security to COVID-19 pandemic.  Although Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held a virtual summit in November, it produced no significant breakthroughs.