BEIJING -- Technology policies that limit foreign companies' access to China raise doubts about the Chinese government's commitment to World Trade Organization guidelines, according to a global report on trade barriers issued by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

The report, issued last week, covered more than 60 foreign markets. It criticized China for pursuing "unique national standards that could lead to the extraction of technology or intellectual property from foreign rights holders" and for draft regulations mandating purchases of software produced in China.

In addition, the USTR's report took the Chinese government to task for interfering in "commercial negotiations over royalty payments to intellectual property rights holders in the area of 3G standards" for advanced wireless networks.

The report did note, though, that China has made some progress in revamping its laws to strengthen intellectual property protection. Efforts to contact Chinese officials for comments about the report were unsuccessful.

HP spends big on IT equipment in Taiwan