international - Europe refuses China status as market economy -FT

"The European Union will refuse to recognise China as a market economy, after an in-depth inquiry by Brussels found the Chinese economy suffering from too much state interference, weak rule of law and poor corporate governance," reports the Financial Times today.
Getting a status as a market economy is high on the agenda of the central government. This weekend Chinese state media cheered as Benin and Togo accepted China as a market economy. New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore accepted this earlier.
"The 15-page interim assessment by the European Commission says that the EU "is committed to granting MES to China", but finds that Beijing has so far only fulfilled one of the five criteria set by Brussels. Unfortunately for China, this criterion - "absence of State-induced distortions in the operations of enterprises linked to privatisation" and the "absence of barter trade" - is the least important," says the FT.