A Single Currency for Mainland and HK? "I Won't Answer", Premier ZhuPremier Zhu Rongji insisted Wednesday in the Hague that Beijing was not interfering in the internal affairs of Hong Kong, but flatly refused to say if he envisioned a common euro-style currency for the two in the foreseeable future.Zhu, on the fourth leg of a European tour and responding to a question from a Dutch businessman, said he could see no visible change in the former British colony since it reverted to China, expect one. "Today, the Hong Kong media are even more criticial of the Chinese government than they were before," he told a conference of business and government leaders on the second and last day of a visit to the Netherlands. "Recently one paper accused me of being the godfather of a mafia group," he said. "And, reflecting on that, I am afraid that if I made any comment on currencies it would give rise to even more such criticism, so I cannot answer your question," he said to laughter and applause among Dutch businessmen drooling over the prospect of entry into China's vast and burgeoning markets. Zhu's six-nation European tour comes six weeks after the signing in Beijing of an historic trade deal to open China's vast potential markets to EU countries. In return, the EU agreed to back China's bid for membership in the World Trade Organization. A key component of that pact provides for access by EU companies to China's expanding financial and insurance sectors. "The opening of our insurance market has been a very big step forward," said Zhu. "When we negotiated the deal for China's accession to the WTO, we envisioned licensing 7 European insurance companies to operate in China once China joined the WTO. "But even before we join the WTO, we have granted one of those seven licenses to a Dutch insurance company, ING, and we plan to grant a second to TransAmerica, a company which Aegon (a Dutch insurer) has already purchased, so it will actually go to a second Dutch company." Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Annemarie Jorritsma told Zhu that, since 1993, "our imports of Chinese products have increased by 200 percent," while in the same period "our exports to China have risen by just 25 percent. "So, we ended 1999 with a trade deficit with China of over 3 billion dollars. I'm convinced we can correct that within a reasonable time," she said. "The reason for my confidence is China's impending entry into the WTO, which will create opportunities to further reinforce the cooperation between the Dutch and Chinese entrepreneurs." "The Dutch," said Jorritsma, "are born traders." In the near future, she said, "import tariffs for some 150 major European export products will drop considerably, and the door to agricultural products will open much wider ... The market for telecommunications and insurance will be deregulated sooner than planned." Zhu said, "We will continue to ensure the rapid growth of our traditioinal industries, but at the same time we will make a greater effort to develop a high-tech industry, with the information industry at the forefront. "China is also developing a market economy so the comments we make have to be put to the test by market conditions," he said. Asked by a Dutch businessman about the condition of China's textile industry, Zhu said, "With our membership in the WTO we hope we will be able to export more of our textile products. "Our textile industry is subjected to lots of restrictions, anti-dumping restrictions, quota restrictions, etcetera, and because of those restrictions our export of textiles has dropped sharply." |
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