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Nation to Further Open up
China is poised to open up even further to the outside world after its entry to the World Trade Organization, a senior foreign trade official said at the 21st Century Forum yesterday.
Shi Guangsheng, minister of foreign trade and economic co-operation, told participants at the forum that the changes will not only increase China's national economy, but also encourage world economic growth.
Shi said although entry would undeniably bring chills to some State industries in the form of new competition, the positive impact of WTO outweighs the negative.
Shi said the entry will further push China to upgrade its socialist market economic system and accelerate industrial structure adjustment.
"I believe it won't be long before China becomes a full member of WTO," he said.
After 20 years of reform and opening up, China has accumulated enough experience in combating financial risks and speculation, which provides the grounds for WTO entry, Shi said.
China will observe the WTO rules to the letter and honour the promises it made during negotiations with WTO member countries, Shi added.
Shi pledged that after its entry to WTO, China would set up the rules the world multilateral trade system needs and get actively involved in multilateral trade negotiations.
He called for developing countries to embrace economic globalization, but he conceded that they should proceed with caution while opening their markets.
An effective way for China to handle the pressure of economic globalization, Shi said, is to further reform the economic system and train more skilled workers.
Shi said China still has work to do in order to reap the full benefits of WTO membership.
The reform of State-owned enterprises and the legal system to create a favourable investment environment are two priorities on the Chinese Government's work agenda, Shi said.
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