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IT Companies Welcome PNTR Vote
United States information technology (IT) companies welcomed the US House of Representatives' passage of legislation granting China Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status on Wednesday.
The passage of PNTR is a "win-win deal'', said a statement issued by Motorola China.
It will greatly boost foreign business people's confidence in investing in China and provide more opportunities for US firms to develop in China, said the Motorola China statement.
The vote is also "a major step to keep America competitive in an increasingly global economy,'' said Motorola CEO Christopher Galvin.
"Simply stated, more exports to China will mean more opportunities for American companies and more jobs for American workers.''
"It will be up to American companies, American workers and American farmers to seize those opportunities and make this agreement a clear winner for all of us,'' he added.
Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect, called Wednesday "a great day for America."
He said the passage of the PNTR bill will foster closer contact
between Chinese citizens and Americans as trade barriers drop. He expects more communication and interaction between the two nations.
Gates said he believes that the bill will have profound and positive implications for the long-term growth potential of both Chinese and US economies, and he said he hopes the US Senate will consider and pass this measure soon.
After months of deeply divided national debate, the House voted 237 to 197 on Wednesday to extend full PNTR status to China.
Senate approval of the bill in June is anticipated as it has wide support there.
"Passage of PNTR ensures that the United States and US companies will gain the benefits of increased access to the Chinese markets as part of China's entry into the WTO,'' said a Dell statement.
It said the high-tech community supports PNTR with China because the Chinese market for IT goods and services has been growing "exponentially,'' and American companies should have an opportunity to compete in the market "under the same favourable terms as companies from other WTO countries.''
This could best be seen in Gates' advertorial in the Washington Post in support of PNTR for China.
He estimates that only about 2.5 per cent of the Chinese people own a computer compared with nearly 50 per cent in the US -- and less than 1 per cent have Internet access.
"But the numbers are growing at an astonishing rate,'' he added.
The number of Internet users quadrupled last year and will likelydouble to more than 20 million this year.
"Today, only a small percentage of Microsoft's revenue come from China, but we are making large investments there, because we believe in its future -- not only as a place for Microsoft to do business, but as a fertile source of new ideas about how technology can improve people's lives,'' wrote Gates.
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