Premier Zhu Rongji lobbied international business leaders yesterday for their support for China's entry into the World Trade Organization by promising to speed up the country's opening process and allow for more imports in the next decade.
Zhu said the government would do more to open the energy, transportation, telecommunications, environmental protection and service sectors, including banking, insurance, tourism, commerce and trade.
Zhu also disclosed that the country's imports will total US$2,000 billion in the next 10 years as living standards improve, consumers spend more and the government builds infrastructure and develops inland areas.
He spoke before more than 1,000 international business delegates, government officials and scholars who came to Shanghai to discuss ways to improve the competitiveness of the Asian economy and achieve sustainable growth.
They are attending the three-day Asia Society 11th annual corporate conference and an investment forum sponsored by Credit Lyonnais Securities (Asia) Ltd.
"The coming huge business opportunities in China belong not only to Chinese entrepreneurs, but also to far-sighted and courageous business people around the world," Zhu said.
Fixed-assets investment is estimated to rise 10 percent annually in the next 10 years during which the Chinese economy is forecast to grow 7 percent a year.
Zhu said China would try to attract more foreign capital to the transformation and upgrading of State-owned enterprises.
He also promised to review and, if necessary, amend the existing foreign-related laws and regulations under WTO rules.
China's application for WTO membership is now pending. It signed an agreement with the United States on entry last year and is now working on a deal with the European Union.
Corporate delegates at the Shanghai conferences voiced their support for China's WTO accession, saying China's membership benefits the whole world as well as China itself.
Suggestions for China
Nicholas Platt, president of the Asia Society, said as a WTO member China will have to completely change the way it has managed the economy, which will help make it more competitive internationally.
He advised the Chinese Government to adopt more clear-cut policies on the burgeoning Internet industry.
"There is a lack of clarity on the rules for investing in the Internet industry in China," he said at a press conference yesterday.
Large numbers of foreign Internet firms would come in if China promulgates industry policies to encourage such investment, Platt said.
But if not, "they (foreign Internet companies) will turn to Singapore, Malaysia and other Asian countries."
He said it is crucial for China to join the rest of the world in mastering the technology- and computer-related techniques of the new economy.
Platt said China - which played a stabilizing role and which was "spared instabilities" that hit its neighbors during the Asian financial crisis - could make progress in several areas, such as transparency, accountability and combating corruption, to create a healthy business climate.
Progress should be made with the rule of law, which "is an essential element of creating a healthy business climate," he said. "Then China can better compete in the world economic system."
Platt endorsed the Chinese Government's efforts to promote economic growth in its poorer western areas.
But he said more concessions and incentives need to be made to maximize investors' interest.
He said although Asian economies are recovering from the recent financial turmoil, China has to compete "in changed ways" after it enters the World Trade Organization, which appears likely.
"The focus is to compete for the future," he said.
(China Daily May 11, 2000)
