Ex-PBOC chief says China has no central policy of forced technology transfer

China has no central policy of forced technology transfers, but there are loopholes at the local level, said Zhou Xiaochuan, former head of the Chinese central bank.

The U.S. administration demands that Beijing make changes to its policies on intellectual property protection, technology transfers and subsidies for high technology industries.

But China says it does not allow forced technology transfers and it treats both domestic and foreign companies equally.

Government investment is for infrastructure, not subsidies, though there could have been inappropriate behavior, Zhou said in Geneva on Wednesday.

Chinese state enterprises could also have some kind of cross-subsidies, he said.