Joining the World Trade Organization will give Chinese enterprises a reason to build a sense of "rule," Long Yongtu, China's chief trade negotiator, said yesterday in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency.
Long pointed out that economic life in China is currently characterized by disorder. "Lack of the sense of 'rule' leads to chaos in the operation of the market to a great extent," Long said.
He said that for the moment there exists a tendency for arbitrariness in implementing internationally established rules in China. "Whether to observe the rules or not, it is all at the will of the decision-maker. Once China enters the globe's economic super group, Chinese businesses will be forced to observe all the rules."
"We have made a number of commitments to WTO, which include the revision of laws and regulations concerning China's economy and foreign trade in order to make them in agreement with WTO."
National People's Congress (NPC) and its standing committee are speeding up the revision of about 30 laws and regulations that are incompatible with WTO rules.
Since last July, the NPC has finished revisions of the Law on Chinese Foreign Cooperative Enterprises, the Law on Foreign Capital Enterprises, the Customs Law, Patent Law, the Trademark Law and the Copyright law.
(Xinhua News Agency July 13, 2001)
