World Trade Organisation urged to tackle Chinese web censorship

China should be taken to the WTO over internet censorship

The vice president of the European Commission has told reporters in Shanghai that China's national firewall should be investigated by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Neelie Kroes, who served as European Commissioner for competition until 2009, made the comments to journalists during a visit to the Chinese headquarters of video-sharing company Tudou.

Kroes pointed out that YouTube is blocked by the Chinese government, for example.

"It is one of those issues that needs to be tackled within the WTO," said Kroes, according to Reuters.

"I am pushing wherever I can just to get European enterprises a level playing field in China and the other way around. It should be reciprocal."

Kroes said that western social networking sites are operating at a disadvantage owing to the restrictions the Chinese government places on internet content, and that this needs to be addressed.

The WTO has previously upheld China's right to censor content coming into its markets, but this latest announcement seems to indicate that the EU will be looking to revise that verdict, not on ethical grounds but on those of competition.