| |
China in the WTO: Time will tell
BEIJING - Despite numerous
technical and operation difficulties, China's
performance in meeting its World Trade Organization
(WTO) commitments in its first year of membership is
quite good on balance, a US China analyst says.
"The second year after accession is probably
more critical than the first year," Christian Murck,
chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China
(AmCham-China), said before the country marked its first
WTO anniversary on Wednesday. "We will see how it goes."
Murck said AmCham-China remained optimistic
about the future of China's market under the WTO
regarding progress in fulfilling its commitments,
reducing tariffs and further opening its vast market.
In its first year in the WTO, China has greatly
improved transparency in its policy decision-making in
compliance with the WTO principles. More and more
government areas are releasing draft regulations for
comments from general public before they finalize them.
So far, China has abrogated or revised more than
2,000 laws, codes and regulations that are not in
compliance with WTO rules and cut its average tariff
rate from 15.3 percent to 12 percent, according to the
latest statistics released by the Ministry of Foreign
Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC). Those
constituted two major "obvious accomplishments" China
had scored after its first year in the WTO, Murck said.
"Quite a lot of work has already been done by China to
revise its existing laws and regulations and reduce
tariff rates during the first year."
China
celebrated its first WTO anniversary on Wednesday. On
December 11 last year, it finally won membership after
15 years of marathon negotiations. From the beginning,
the Chinese government has pledged to implement its WTO
commitments strictly while insisting on enjoying its
rights provided for by the world's biggest trade
organization.
"For overseas firms and also for
China, the most important thing about China's WTO
accession is the indication of the country's resolve to
further open its domestic markets," Murck said.
"Moreover," he added, "China is benefiting from the WTO
accession with more foreign investment and lower prices
for products."
He also acknowledged that
AmCham-China would encourage investment from overseas
had given China's progress in a year. According to a
survey conducted by AmCham-China and AmCham-Shanghai
within their collective memberships in June, 77 percent
out of 208 surveyed member companies said that they
planned to increase investment in China. Many of them
are reconsidering their strategies in China and the
opportunities they may have over the next five years.
"But we must remind foreign firms that it is an
increasingly acute competitive market here," Murck said.
Comprising 726 member firms at present,
AmCham-China provides services to its members and helps
them acquaint with the business environment in China.
Media reports predict that China will expected to absorb
more than US$50 billion in foreign direct investment in
2002, overtaking the United States as the world's top
recipient of FDI.
Shi Guangsheng, Chinese
minister of foreign trade and economic cooperation, said
early this month that China's total imports and exports
this year would top $600 billion and might edge the
country into fifth place in global trade rankings.
(Asia Pulse/XIC)
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
