China's WTO Entry Benefits All: Trade Official

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, November 25, 2001

China's WTO Entry Benefits All: Trade Official

Sun Zhenyu, vice minister of foreign trade and economic cooperation, said Saturday in Shanghai that China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will not only benefit the people of China, but also people in other parts of the world.

WTO Forum is Held in Shanghai

China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will not only benefit the people of China, but also people in other parts of the world, a Chinese foreign trade official said Saturday in Shanghai.

Sun Zhenyu, vice minister of foreign trade and economic cooperation, made the remark while addressing the "Adaptation and Involvement: WTO and the Developing Economies" seminar held during the ongoing 3rd Shanghai International Industry Exposition. In his speech, Sun stressed that mutual complementarity overrides competition in the overall economic and trade relations between China and other developing countries.

He added that some countries have expressed concern that China 's entry to the WTO will result in fiercer competitions for them in both export and attracting overseas investment. "As a matter of fact, such worries are unnecessary," said Sun, "China, like other countries, has its own economic advantages, but also needs to learn from others' strong points to offset its shortcomings through participating in international competition and cooperation." Both expansion in the division of labor and technical progress depend on the broadening of the market, Sun went on, saying the Chinese market has the biggest potential in the world, and China's entry to the WTO will undoubtedly promote better amalgamation of the Chinese and global economies. The proposal on China's accession to the WTO was passed on November 10, during the Doha meeting in Qatar, but China is to be formally inducted as a WTO member starting from December 11 this year.

In his speech on Saturday, Sun reiterated the Chinese government's stand on seriously carrying out its commitments to the WTO in accordance with the principle of equal rights for equal obligations. China has made unremitting efforts in opening up the country's market and observing international practices since the nation introduced its reform and opening-up drive more than two decades ago.

In January this year, China had slashed its overall tariffs to 15.3 percent, and is determined to bring the proportion down to 10 percent by 2005. In the meantime, the country has reduced the number of quota- required foreign trade products from 1,247 in 1992 to 300 at present. Moreover, it has promised to gradually revoke quota requirements from foreign trade products within the next few years, following its WTO entry. On China's entry into the world trade club, the country will also gradually open more fields to overseas investors, including banking, insurance, telecom, trade, tourism and commerce, and actively promote the opening-up of central and western China, Sun added.

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