Chinese exporters suffered a direct loss of $75.8 billion last
year because of overseas technical trade barriers, a senior trade
official said.
Zhang Xiangchen, director of the commerce ministry's department
of WTO affairs, revealed the figure at a forum in Beijing
yesterday. The figure reflects a 9.7 percent jump from a year
earlier.
The finding was based on a survey of enterprises dealing with
exports in 22 categories, including foodstuffs, native produce and
animal by-products.
The survey showed 15.22 percent of Chinese exporting enterprises
were affected by "certain technical barriers" in overseas markets
last year.
Opportunities lost due to the technical trade barriers were
worth $26.2 billion last year, up 20.74 percent from a year ago.
The barriers also increased exporters' production costs by $2.62
billion.
Detailed influences on specific categories were not made
available.
The technical trade barriers, involving changes to regulations
and standards, have replaced import tariffs as the major threat to
overseas exports, in particular to the markets in the European
Union, the United States and Japan.
The major problems Chinese enterprises face when dealing with
technical barriers is the lack of information, capital and
resolution, Vice-Minister of Commerce Yi Xiaozhun said in an
earlier interview.
Zhang said the government would provide assistance to Chinese
exporters.
The export survey aimed to collect more information on the
impact of certain technical barriers and help the government
understand exporters' needs in a bid to better cope with various
factors in the market landscape.
The government has also strengthened technical support to
enterprises, Zhang said.
For example, after Japan implemented a "positive list" system
that not only sets strict maximum agricultural chemical residue
limits but also expands inspection criteria, the Ministry of
Commerce, together with industry associations, held training
sessions for agricultural product exporters on how best to deal
with the new Japanese system.
(China Daily December 7, 2007)
