Guangzhou will be among the first Chinese cities to open seven key industries after China enters the World Trade Organization, according to Weng Wenxiang, deputy director of the Guangzhou Foreign Trade and Economic Commission.
The seven sectors to be opened are insurance, banking, tourism, legal services, telecom value-added services, basic telecom services and retail.
Six major adjustments will be made by Guangzhou municipal authorities in their efforts to promote foreign trade and attract foreign investment after China's entry into the WTO. They include:
A significant but gradual lowering of import tariffs to a level equivalent to that of a developing country within two years of China's WTO entry;
Lowering import regulation tariffs;
Narrowing the application fields for active quotas and permit-license systems;
Gradually releasing controls on the issuing of foreign trade business licenses, banning import and export trade agency business from foreign trade companies, removing the export application and foreign exchange balance system for foreign-invested enterprises;
Allowing foreign investment greater market access, and granting national treatment to foreign-invested enterprises, and
Improving the transparency of foreign trade policies.
The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation will supervise the policymaking and implementation by the Guangzhou government.
Weng stated that the readjustments will help Guangzhou to open to the outside world with greater market access and freedom in trade and investment. The city will gradually involve itself in foreign investment businesses and such transnational business operations as acquisitions and mergers.
(People’s Daily 12/02/2000)
