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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, February 12, 2004

China airlines face manmade trade barriers from US: forum

A forum on Sino-US economy and trade under the mechanism of the Sino-US Business Dialogue was held in Beijing on February 9.


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A forum on Sino-US economy and trade under the mechanism of the Sino-US Business Dialogue was held in Beijing on February 9. The US delegation, led by Lt. General Daniel W. Christman, senior vice president for international affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce, and composed by representatives from US giant internationals talked with Chinese officials from related ministries and business leaders. Air China president Li Jiaxiang said frankly at the forum that in the Sino-US trade and business exchanges Chinese airlines face "artificial barriers".

Restricted trade leads to trip imbalance
When it comes to freight transport between China and US airlines people talk about huge demands and rapid-growing market, said Li, but, as a matter of fact, what they refer to in most cases is one-way trip from China to the United States. Li told reporter that in 2003 most air freight service in the world got profits but China was in the red, one of the reasons being the one-direction trip. Li called for the US government to balance bilateral trade by lifting trade restrictions on China, increasing export of hi-tech electronic products to the country as well as processing trade of other products.

Aircraft and aviation materials priced too high
Presently the production market of large aircraft for civil use is practically dominated by Boeing and Airbus, prices of those planes have for long remained high. A Boring 747 is priced between 160 million and 170 million US dollars, as a result it needs 1.5 billion to 1.6 billion RMB yuan to buy one given other costs. The high cost for the introduction of aircraft and aviation materials has become a heavy burden holding back the development of air companies, keeping the operation cost of Chinese air companies at much too high a level.

Security and technology barriers too tight
After the "September 11" attack, FAA asked all US-bound air freighters, after security checks, to be put in warehouse for 48 hours before being delivered. Li pointed out, the measures have not only forced the domestic civil aviation enterprises to spend much on security equipment but also added transportation links, lengthened transporting time, and therefore affected China's export transportation to the United States.

On top of security barriers, technological barriers also warded off the Chinese enterprises. Domestic airlines are now in a disadvantageous position due to the wide gap in e-business between China and the United States.

By People's Daily Online


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