Wang added that the anti-dumping lawsuit against the EU has enhanced Aokang's legal knowledge of international trade and has helped the company learn how to resolve international trade disputes. Overall, the victory boosts the company's international aspirations.

Shen Danyang, a MOFCOM spokesman, said the case should be an impetus for Chinese enterprises to protect their own rights through legal action.

Industrial competitiveness

"Is Aokang's victory enough?" Zhang asked in a blog post after the ruling from CAITEC was handed down.

Chinese companies, she said, should be vigilant when celebrating Aokang's victory. She derides the litigation expenses awarded to Aokang, saying it does little to make up for what Chinese shoemakers have lost in the past six years in terms of EU market share and opportunities for growth.

When China became the world's second largest economy and biggest exporter, it also became entangled in numerous global trade disputes.

Over the past 17 years, China has encountered more anti-dumping investigations than any other country. In the first three quarters of this year alone, China faced 55 trade remedy investigations of its exports, a year-on-year increase of 38 percent, involving $24.3 billion worth of goods, or an eight-fold increase, according to MOFCOM figures.

According to Global Trade Alert by the Center for Economic Policy Research, 40 percent of the world's trade protectionist measures have been against China since the start of the 2008 global financial crisis.

Since its WTO entry, China has encountered 758 trade remedy cases launched by foreign countries. Meanwhile, China has launched a mere 11 cases.

Zhang said China has obvious advantages when it comes to economies of scale and has benefited from countries around the world transferring production to its shores, stimulating the continuous growth of exports. As the world's manufacturing center, China is more likely to encounter hostilities in trade.

"This rapidly growing competitive advantage in export will inevitably be followed by discontent from major world economies and big trading nations. Therefore, in many trade friction cases China has encountered, there is obvious trade protectionism," Zhang said.

Developed economies intend to curb China's development through trade protectionism, Zhang said, and their protectionist measures have shifted from the traditional tariff, quota and license limits to protection of intellectual property rights, exchange rate mechanisms and the investment environment for foreign-invested enterprises.

"The lawsuit between Aokang and the EU, as well as the anti-dumping investigations against China's photovoltaic industry by the United States and Europe, has alerted the whole world that China needs a fair and free environment for competition, and the world also needs to formulate new rules to fight against trade protectionism and reduce trade frictions," Zhang said.

One of the major reasons for the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations against Chinese photovoltaic products by the United States and Europe has to do with the mere fact that Chinese photovoltaic companies have nabbed half of the global market while U.S. and European companies have seen their share shrink, said Zhang.

For example, the U.S. market share declined from 47 percent in the 1990s to 7 percent today. Unable to make breakthroughs in technology to compete with Chinese companies in terms of product costs, the United States has resorted to trade protectionism.

Nevertheless, Chinese entrepreneurs should recognize that although trade protectionism and other external factors have impeded China's international expansion somewhat, their products still lag behind those of developed countries in terms of quality and technology. The most effective way to ease trade frictions is to move up the industrial food chain. Otherwise, the anti-dumping probes will continue.

Although Aokang won its battle against the EC, its industrial development has seen little improvement. It is still a labor-intensive shoemaking company and its industrial competitiveness is not yet strong. In the future, it is likely to encounter more trade disputes.

China is still faced with trade protectionism. Instead of simply tackling anti-dumping investigations and other allegations of unfair trade, companies must work to establish an advantage in technology, brand development, as well as quality and service.

Email us at: lanxinzhen@bjreview.com