Procurement list adjusted for security reasons

Supporting local companies is also in line with the current norms adopted by many other countries. Domestic IT products are critical to improving information security in the country, according to Miao Wei, Minister of Industry and Information Technology.

Being aware that government procurement could boost local technological innovations in the market, Washington introduced the Buy American Act in the 1930s, which requires the Federal government to purchase domestic products, which include those made in the US at an additional cost of at least 50 percent instead of locally assembled ones with imported materials.

For decades, government procurement, which accounts for around 30 percent of the US's fiscal expenditure, has favored local high-tech products.

Likewise, by stipulating that organizations such as governments at all levels and state universities should give priority to locally produced computers in their procurement, Japan has done the same for its computer industry since the 1960s. Moreover, consumers buying Japanese computers could also enjoy special depreciation discounts, subsidies and loans. Similar measures such as non-tariff barriers to foreign service providers have incubated Japan's technological innovations over more than five decades.

It is therefore unfair that China face accusations of protectionism for doing the same, especially given that it is not yet a member of the WTO's Government Procurement Agreement and hence it is legitimately entitled to protect its industry for national security concerns by designing its own procurement list.

The author is a professor at the School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing.