China should get a good mark for its performance on commitments
made to the World Trade Organization, said Sun Zhenyu, the Chinese
ambassador to the WTO.
China has taken its commitments seriously since becoming a
member of the world trade body two years ago and has greatly
improved its transparency on foreign economic and trade
policies.
"It is not an easy thing. But we have made great efforts to keep
promises, including lowering the tariff rates, eliminating
non-tariff measures, and relaxing limitations on foreign
investments,'' Sun said.
China's average tariff rate on farm products was lowered to 16.8
percent in 2003, far below the world average rate of 62 percent,
Sun said.
In addition, all non-tariff measures on farm products have been
eliminated, Sun said.
"China even moved earlier in some areas when it realized its
commitment in opening the service market,'' Sun added.
However, some foreign companies still have complaints about
China's slow action.
"It is not strange. It is not because China did not keep its
promises, but because foreign investors are too eager to enter the
big market,'' said Zhang Hanlin, president of the China Institute
for WTO Studies.
"If China did not stand by its commitments in commodity trade
and service trade, how can its imports surge so fast?'' Zhang
asked.
In the first 11 months, China's imports jumped 39.1 percent to
US$370.6 billion. The trade surplus totaled US$19.7 billion in the
first 11 months of the year, dropping by 27.6 percent from the same
period last year.
No country performs perfectly in accordance with their WTO
promises, Zhang said, and that is why there are so many disputes in
the world trade body.
"China has behaved well compared with other countries and its
own past, before it entered the WTO,'' Zhang said.
Ian Kay, executive general manager of the European Union Chamber
of Commerce in China, said his organization is satisfied with
China's progress in implementing its WTO commitments overall.
Since accession, China has implemented many of the prescribed
changes as detailed in the Protocol on Accession, particularly in
the area of tariff reductions and market opening, Kay said. He
noted some of these had even come ahead of time.
"This last year, China's gradual readiness to consult before
implementing new regulations has been another step forward in the
opening-up process and is especially welcomed,'' Kay said.
The Chamber has an optimistic outlook on China and the
implementation of its WTO commitments, he said.
But he added there are still concerns about the protection of
intellectual property rights in China.
Zhang said the enforcement of IPR protection is complicated in
China, but that the government is sincere in trying to improve the
situation and many senior officials have vowed to facilitate work
on protecting intellectual property issues for foreign-funded
companies.
(China Daily December 11, 2003)