Lingering
worries
What did catch China off guard, however, was the
explosion of trade disputes which it had hoped would diminish with the WTO
membership.
Antidumping moves against China affect exports worth
between 40 billion to 50 billion U.S. dollars a year. Now about one in seven
antidumping complaints are lodged against China.
"China cannot afford to underestimate the negative
impact of its ballooning trade," warned professor Zhang Hanlin of the University
of International Business and Economics.
While the year's foreign trade surged 24.3 percent to
1.593 trillion U.S. dollars through November, China's customs indicated the
full-year trade surplus is likely to hit a new high of 168 billion U.S. dollars.
Excessively rapid growth in international trade
growth could also aggravate the economy's over dependence on imports and exports
and sour China's trade relations with other partners, Zhang noted.
Other ambushes might come from improper economic
management by governments, warned director Zhang Xiangchen of the WTO Affairs
Department of the Ministry of Commerce.
With the five-year transition period coming to an
end, Zhang says the government must continue to reform its management methods
and abandon once and for all the practices of the old controlled economy which
contravene WTO rules.
As competition in banking, agriculture and other
sectors are likely to intensify, it would be wishful thinking for China to
expect smooth sailing in the years to come.
To defuse risks, China must "learn to strike a proper
balance between WTO compliance and an active effort to evolve the existing WTO
rules for the good of the vast number of developing countries," Mei
said.
China's moves in 2006 to
open up economy
Agriculture -- The tariffs quota on vegetable oil was
removed on Jan. 1, 2006 while the average tariffs for agricultural produce is
expected to decline to 15.2 percent.
Automobiles -- China chopped the tariffs for
whole-car imports of sedans, cross-country vehicles and mini-buses to 25 percent
in line with its WTO commitments on July 1.
Petrochemicals -- Under two new regulations issued on
Dec. 7, China will open the wholesale market for crude oil and refined
oilproducts as of January 1, 2007. The move will break the longstanding monopoly
of state-owed enterprises China National Petroleum Corporation and China
Petroleum and Chemical Corporation.
Banking -- Regulations on Administration of
Foreign-funded Banks will take effect on Dec. 11, a landmark document marking
the open-up of China's banking industry.
Foreign exchange rates -- China revalued the yuan by
2.1 percent against the dollar in July 2005 and has since allowed the currency
to appreciate another 3.6 percent.
Continuing pledge -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
reiterated that China won't hesitate in sticking to the opening up policy and
fulfill its WTO commitments at the third China-ASEAN Expo in November.
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