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American Firms in China Optimistic
With Beijing's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) just around the corner, American enterprises operating in China appear sanguine about their business prospects in the country, according to the 2001 white paper issued recently by the American Chamber of Commerce in the People's Republic of China (AmCham-China).
A survey conducted by AmCham-China in 2000 showed that 91 per cent of 160 respondents to a membership questionnaire said that they were either cautiously optimistic or optimistic about their business prospects in the next five years, said the white paper, which focused on American business in China.
The document noted that AmCham-China members anticipate reduced tariffs, better distribution channels, more impartial and objective tendering practices, stronger legal protection of intellectual property, improved ownership structures and more international standard accounting and business practices in China after the country joins the WTO.
Since the autumn of 1999, the United States and China have made "unambiguous commitments" to deepening their commercial relationship.
They agreed on the terms of China's WTO accession, a key step in the process of realizing China's entry, the white paper said. It added that the US Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status and, in the process, reaffirmed bipartisan support for the fundamental approach of the China policy of every American president since normalization of relations in 1979.
"In addition to renewed confidence in the bilateral relationship arising from these developments, American business sentiment in China reflects the feeling that the Chinese economy has recovered from both the residual effects of the Asian financial crisis as well as some of its domestic economic strains," the document said.
The white paper praised "China's careful management of foreign debt, high foreign currency reserves and capital controls," which it said "protected the nation from the worst effects of the Asian financial crisis."
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