China To Debut At International Trade Forum

China is inspired by the de facto decision of its entry into the WTO at the meeting of the working groups in WTO headquarters in Geneva on July 3.

According to the Xinhwa New Agency, Chinese chief negotiator Long Yongtu said that ``the 16th executive meeting in Geneva has been carried out in a tense atmosphere and finally resulted in a major breakthrough by the constructive negotiation. That was a crucial meeting for the Chinese entry into the WTO.``

A spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation said Wednesday that ``the 16th meeting has reached a consensus on major problems. The negotiation is virtually completed.`` The Chinese delegation had the 16th meeting of the working group in Geneva concerning China`s entry into the WTO for 4 days since June 28.

Chinese trade experts evaluated the meeting as successful in that China acquires the right to subsidize 8.5 percent of agricultural output, which is close to the figure for developing countries. However, some other experts criticize that China compromised too much in haste to enter the WTO.

As a result of this meeting, China will present its protocol and reports related with the entry in mid-September and the China`s entry into the WTO would be officially endorsed at November`s ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar, November 9-13. Then, China will become the 142nd full member of the WTO.

China officially debuts at the international trade forum 15 years after its first attempt to enter the GATT, which was the forerunner of the WTO. The entry of China into the WTO has been anticipated when China and the U.S. reached an agreement in 1999. China is already the 7th economic power by the GDP in the world, ranking 9th in the total trade volume and holding over 1.3 billion populace. However, the stumbled and delayed bilateral negotiations with the 40 member countries of the WTO including the EU has brought up a skeptical view of the China`s entry this year. Particularly, the agricultural subsidies and the opening of the service and bank industry had been controversial.

However, some more problems are still waiting to be settled. China and Mexico have to adjust their opinions and complete their bilateral negotiation on the insurance market. Mexico has continued on the negotiation with China to protect its domestic market from the China made products accelerated by the China`s entry into the WTO. Since the entry into the WTO is decided by the unilateral agreement of the whole members, China has to complete its negotiation with Mexico, the last counterpart of its bilateral negotiations.

The followings are the conditions that China agrees on;

# Agriculture

No export subsidies

Subsidies for the Domestic agriculture up to 8.5 percent of the agricultural outputs. (in comparison, 5 percent for advanced countries and 10 percent for developing countries).

# Service

To allow business for free selection of joint venture partners.

# Trade Business

Full-scale accessibility not only to the domestic registered corporations but also to the foreign corporations and individuals in 3 years.

# Technical barriers concerning the trade

Abrogation of the dual import investigation system, which separate the domestic products and the imported goods.

No dual judgment on the domestic and the foreign products in the decision of suitability. And the applicant chooses the investigation institution.

# Anti-Dumping

To publish the conditions and methods in advance when China sets up a comparative price of a third country

# Import Quarter (Quarter Management) - To be abrogated

Lee Jong-Hwan ljhzip@donga.com