China's Entry to WTO To Benefit Spanish Firms: Spanish FMChina's entry to World Trade Organization (WTO) will be "a revolution without precedents", that will carry alongside benefits for Spanish companies, said Monday Spanish Foreign Minister, Josep Pique.It is now "time to bet for China, which offers opportunities in infrastructure, energy, agronourishment and tourism sectors", the foreign minister said at the 5th Hispanic-Chinese Entrepreneurial Meeting "China and Spain, Always Nearer". This event is being organized, on the eve of official visit of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar to China, by Institute of Foreign Trade (CEOE) and Superior Council of Trade Chambers . Aznar will visit China from June 24 to July 1, accompanied by a delegation of over 150 Spanish entrepreneurs. Spanish sales in China in 1999 reached 428.5 million U.S. dollars, 0.4 percent of total exports of Spain, while imports went up to 3.5316 billion dollars, 2.7 percent of all Spanish purchases. In China there are 140 Spanish firms, representing only 0.1 percent of all companies with foreign capital established in this Asian country. State Secretary of Trade and Tourism Juan Costa said China's forthcoming entry to WTO will bring down tariffs for Spanish products by half, the average tariff going from 17.5 percent to 8 percent. |
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