China's Ministry of Commerce says it supports necessary reform of the World Trade Organization, but there are principles that need to be followed. A ministry spokesman also said it is helping overseas companies survive the trade feud between China and the US. Our reporter, Wang Hui, has the details.

The Commerce Ministry responded to concerns that some foreign companies are considering cutting production in China, due to the trade war with the United States.

The spokesman said China is continuing to open its market and improve the investment environment, and it will also help companies deal with concrete problems.

GAO FENG, SPOKESMAN MINISTRY OF COMMERCE "The central and local governments are actively resolving problems in the use of land, natural gas, and labor, so we can implement major programs involved with foreign capital."

Senior economy and trade officials from the United States, the European Union and Japan met on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. They released a joint statement that refers to "non market-oriented policies" of certain unnamed countries.

WANG HUI BEIJING "The joint statement iterates the three parties' agreement on enforcing technology transfer, subsidies and the reform of the World Trade Organization. They also criticized some practices of so-called 'the third country'. Some media reports say it targets China. How do you respond?"

GAO FENG, SPOKESMAN MINISTRY OF COMMERCE "The WTO is not perfect. We support necessary reform of the WTO, to keep the multilateral trading system up with the times, and better respond to the development of the times. But we believe we need to follow principles: we cannot change the basic principles of the WTO, such as most-favored-nation treatment and National Treatment, and the direction of free trade. We cannot throw out everything and start all over again."

The spokesman said the core of reform needs to be development, taking account of reasonable demands from developing countries. It also should be based on the principles of mutual respect and mutual benefit.

WANG HUI BEIJING "The spokesman said that WTO members should give priority to resolving problems that endanger the survival of the organization. He said they should discuss reform and work on it together, rather than some members imposing their will on others. Wang Hui, CGTN, Beijing."