Experts: China's fulfillment of WTO commitments positive
( 2003-12-11 23:30) (China Daily)
China has stood by its commitments to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) in the past two years, but much work remains to be done, said
Chinese Minister of Commerce Lu Fuyan.
The country still needs to fulfil more promises it made in
the coming years as the transitional period comes to an end and local industries
feel the pinch from China's entry into the WTO, Lu said.
"More challenges are
waiting for China,'' Lu said.
WTO rules indicate that in the third year of
the transition period, China should grant foreign trading rights to companies
where foreign investors hold majority share.
China is also asked to eliminate
licensing management on products such as oil, rubber and automobiles.
The
service sector, which includes telecom, construction and distribution, will open
wider to foreign companies.
Some limitations on location and proportion of
foreign investment will be lifted in insurance and banking sectors.
Lu said
to do this, local industries should spruce up to increase their
competitiveness.
It has also been recommended that the process of opening
areas to domestic investors before foreign players enter be
accelerated.
Domestic companies in key sectors such as finance, agriculture,
automotive, textile and information technology are asked to make more
preparations for challenges from foreign competitors, Lu said.
The minister
of commerce also mentioned the swelling threat on Chinese exports expected next
year since they are subject to rising anti-dumping and safeguard
measures.
The increasing protectionist behaviour came along with China's WTO
entry. In the past two years, a total of 112 anti-dumping and safeguard
investigations targetted Chinese products, coupled with strict inspection
standards.
"We should do more to combat protectionism by using WTO rules,''
Lu said.
By fulfilling its promises to the world trade body, China opened
more markets and increased its imports greatly, which provides enormous business
opportunities for the world, Lu said.
He said China's opening of the farm
product market, for instance, was ahead of other WTO members.
Benefiting from
lower tariffs and the elimination of non-tariff measures, farm imports to China
jumped 76.3 per cent to US$12.44 billion in the first three quarters of the
year.
China's average duties on industrial products were also cut from 14.7
per cent before WTO entry to 10.3 per cent this year.
As a result, China
imported 13,000 units of automobiles in the first three quarters, rising 40.5
per cent.
China also moved ahead in the opening of insurance and tourism
service markets, Lu said.
Wolfgang Veit, professor of International Economics
at the University of Applied Sciences in Cologne, Germany, terms China's two
year efforts to fulfil its WTO commitments as "positive.''
Another German
researcher, Tobias Stoll, managing director of the Institute of International
Law, University of Goettingen, said China has improved its legal framework by
revising and repealing a batch of national and local laws and regulations that
went against WTO rules.
Experts also want China to quicken its pace in
opening up trading rights and strengthening the protection of intellectual
property rights.
They made the remarks at the European Union-China programme
for China's Accession to the WTO Closing Conference held
Thursday.
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