Major players in the Chinese television industry have commented that the WTO entry will not cause major price reductions in color televisions produced in China. In fact, China's entry into the WTO will facilitate domestic products to further establish their status in the global market.

Major players in the television industry have commented that the WTO entry will not cause major price reductions in color televisions produced in China. In fact, China's entry into the WTO will facilitate domestic products to further establish their status in the global market.

Chen Weihong, general manager of the Konka Group, commented on the Sino-US bilateral agreement on China's accession to WTO by saying that trade barriers for Chinese exports will be removed after the WTO entry, helping Chinese TV makers expand their market abroad.

Chen said that as many foreign competitors have established production bases in China, China is fully capable of producing and processing any basic TV materials domestically.

Huang Hongsheng, board director of the Changhong Group, said that China's WTO entry will bring fiercer competition to his company, adding that Changhong will no longer a "hero in the domestic competition".

China produces 30 million color TV sets each year, but the domestic demand is only 20 million.

In April this year, Changhong Group, China's largest TV producer, announced that it would slash the prices of its color televisions. A number of leading domestic TV producers immediately followed suit, including Konka and Panda.

Market observers say that the price war has reduced the number of small color TV producers and help promote the concentration of TV producers and the production of famous brand products.

In 1996, China witnessed a similar price war. By the end of that year, the market share of four big TV providers -- Changhong, Konka, Panda and TCL -- skyrocketed more than 50 percent. A year later, this figure climbed to 65 percent.

Analysts say that these changes are a sign that the domestic TV market is becoming more established, with domestically-made color TVs taking an eighty percent share. Slight changes in the price of foreign TV will therefore not significantly affect the domestic market. (Xinhua)