Beijing has failed to win its battle to have the European Union recognize China as a ‘market economy’ as defined by the World Trade Organization. China had decided to drop the matter after the WTO, in an interim ruling rejected the argument that Beijing’s 2001 agreement to join the WTO automatically granted it the right to be treated as a market economy in anti-dumping investigations after 15 years. The 27-nation bloc will also unveil a proposal this week to protect European companies from Chinese takeovers.