December 11, 2006 marks the 5th anniversary of China's entry
into the World Trade Organization (WTO). In the past five years,
China has comprehensively and?fully implemented the extensive
commitments it made upon joining the world trade body in 2001.
China's average industrial tariffs were lowered from pre-WTO
levels of 14.8 percent to 9.1 percent by 2005, while agricultural
tariffs fell from 23.2 percent to 15.3 percent.
China has also opened up 10 service sectors and 100 sub-sectors
as per its commitments. These sub-sectors include banking,
insurance, distribution, telecoms, legal service, and
accounting.
In addition, China's trade-related laws, regulations and rules
have undergone extensive reviewing and have been brought into full
compliance with commitments made upon accession.
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China has also made tremendous efforts in intellectual property
rights (IPR) protection. In only 20 years, a complete IPR
protection legislative and enforcement system has been established
in China, and public awareness of IPR protection has been
dramatically raised.
China has also made numerous efforts to restart the WTO's
stalled Doha round of talks in a bid to lower global trade
barriers.
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said that China's membership in
the global trade body is a "big plus for everyone."
In the first review of China's trade policy in June this year,
the global trade body's assessment of China's fulfillment of its
WTO commitments was positive.
(China.org.cn December 8, 2006)