GENEVA (REUTERS) - China accused the European Union on Tuesday (May 15) of risking a return to the "law of the jungle", telling a dispute hearing at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that it was astonished by what it called the EU's disregard for the WTO's rulebook.

China's statement came during a major trade dispute in which Beijing is trying to force the United States and the EU to treat China like any other "market economy", rather than claiming it unfairly subsidises its exports on a large scale.

The EU's argument that China distorted its markets could equally be applied to the 28-nation bloc's Common Agricultural Policy or US corn prices, the Chinese statement said.