Where is the 'Wolf' One Year After China's WTO Entry?

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 12, 2002

Where is the 'Wolf' One Year After China's WTO Entry?

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Hao Guangnian, a freelance writer in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, has finally bought a Chinese-made car. He had waited for more than half a year for the price of imported cars to fall sharply, but was disappointed.

"The local media had strongly predicted a drastic drop in the price of imported cars after China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), but it did not happen at all," said Hao.

The auto industry was tipped to be one of the industries that would face the foreign "wolf" -- a word Chinese people use to describe imported cars, food, computers and other cheap items expected to flood the country's market after it joined the WTO.

Liu Ming, an economist at China's National Information Center, said that vehicle tariffs were still as high as 44 percent this year though they would finally drop to 25 percent in 2006.

"More importantly, Chinese car makers have churned out more and cheaper models in preparation for the 'wolf', and there is an increase in people's purchasing power," he said.

The auto industry is not unusual. The WTO shock is said to be slight in other areas.

Han Hua, a clerk at the Guangdong Branch of the Bank of China, almost forgot that Wednesday was the first anniversary of China's WTO entry. "I don't remember any heart stopping things taking place in my bank or in my personal life in the past year," she said.

But when she first joined the bank a year ago, anxious bank staff held numerous meetings to work out measures to meet any possible challenges.

The year 2002 saw steady business growth in Han's bank as Guangdong Province registered a 10-percent economic growth rate and a healthy increase in people's incomes.

"We opened many new services to woo customers and we now think that foreign banks are not so terrific as we had thought, so long as we compete on an equal footing," Han said confidently.

TCL, a famous home appliance supplier, even took over a German color TV manufacturer two months ago. At the same time last year, it was afraid that foreign electronic giants would erode many of its markets.

To Lu Kai, a bank clerk in Beijing, China's WTO membership has brought him something more wonderful.

A fan of classical art, Lu has bought a ticket to see the French musical "Notre Dame De Paris", which is scheduled to be staged at the Great Hall of the People in the nation's capital Beijing on December 20.

"We now can expect more Broadway troupes and Hollywood movies to arrive in China," said Lu, adding "I love the feeling of having more choices and that makes my life colorful."

"There are now so many foreign fruits in the supermarkets and the price is much lower than before," said 60-year-old Shu Anqing,who bought some grapefruit imported from the United States in a supermarket near his home in downtown Beijing on Wednesday.

However, China's agricultural sector, predicted to be the top casualty of American and Canadian grain producers, was not affected too much.

Cheng Guoqiang, a research fellow with the development research center under the State Council said this was because poor harvests this year in major global grain production regions including Canada, the United States and Australia led to price hikes around the world and secondly, China currently boasted a grain surplus and the price was continuing to fall.

Although China's WTO membership did not bring too many changes to the daily life of Wu Hongsheng, he has enjoyed the conveniences brought about by China's entry to the global trade organization.

"I went through fewer procedures to launch my law office compared with in the past," said the 45-year-old lawyer. His law office became operational last month.

Su Zhijun, who is in charge of the Beijing Office of the China Music Copyright Association, has been busy collecting fees for background music at Beijing's department stores and other business areas.

He said department stores and bars gave customers free music in the past, but "free music" did not exist any more.

While enjoying the perks of WTO membership, China has also worked hard to fulfill its WTO entry commitments over the past year, and had "performed very well according to international standards," said Shi Guangsheng, minister of foreign trade.

Christian Murk, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, also expressed his satisfaction with China's performance inthe past year, saying he was optimistic over the future of the China market.

His view is shared by many foreign people who have invested in China.

G. Richard Wagoner, Jr., president and Chief Executive Officer of auto giant GM praised the growth of Shanghai since China's WTO entry.

Wagoner said Shanghai was changing from being an engine for economic growth for just China to one driving the entire Asia-Pacific Region, as well as a truly world-class city.

However, some experts consider the real threat will come next year.

China's agricultural sector, for instance, was expected to face real challenges in the near future, said Cheng, from the State Council's development research center.

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