China prefers to resort to consultation for settlement of trade friction with its trade partners rather than to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai said on Monday.

"It is a normal practice to solve some trade frictions within the framework of the WTO mechanism for dealing with trade disputes. But for problems with trade partners with good relations, we prefer consultations," said the minister at a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of China's parliament.

"If the consultations fail, we would respect the choice of our trade partners and resort to the WTO mechanism," he told reporters.

Global business activities have kept growing after China's entry into the WTO, while trade frictions between China and some of its trade partners, especially Europe and the United States, are also on the rise, the minister noted.

The Chinese side always hopes that trade disputes and frictions could be settled through consultations, he said, adding, "I'm pleased to see that our major trade partners in Europe, America and the other parts of the world also want to resolve the problems through consultation."

"Of course there are exceptions however," said the commerce minister, who expressed regret that some countries lodged cases in the WTO against China's import policy on complete sets of motor vehicles and auto parts.

(Xinhua News Agency March 12, 2007)