European businesses are seeking greater access to the Chinese
market while celebrating their success in helping China join the
World Trade Organization (WTO).
"China's accession to the WTO is imminent, and the commitments made
in the Accession Protocol will bring fresh opportunities for
European businesses in China,'' said Peter Batey, president of the
European Union (EU) Chamber of Commerce in China.
He
said two of the chamber's priorities for 2002 are monitoring the
implementation of China's WTO accession pledges and improving
market access.
"The gradual opening as outlined in the WTO agreement may prove too
slow to counter the very limited opportunities for profitable
business in China for foreign banks, which are also burdened by an
unusual amount of bureaucratic requirements,'' said an annual
position paper issued Tuesday by the chamber.
The paper, the second of its kind since the establishment of the
chamber last October, suggested that China do more to open its
market in such sectors as banking, automobiles, agriculture,
aerospace, insurance, securities, pharmaceutical, tourism, trade
and distribution, transportation, petrochemical, information
technology, cosmetics, accounting, auditing and taxation.
It
also pressed the Chinese Government to improve its legal framework
and to intensify its efforts on the protection of intellectual
property rights.
The chamber president said a conference will be convened to discuss
the paper and the next edition early next year in Beijing.
Participants will include the 16 sectoral working groups of the
chamber, the national chamber of business associations of the EU
countries and the commercial sections of the 15 national embassies,
Batey said.
The chamber presented the paper to visiting EU trade commissioner
Pascal Lamy, hoping it would help him in his trade negotiations
with China.
The chamber said it also has presented the paper to Yu Xiaosong,
chairman of the China
Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and will file
the paper with various Chinese ministries and commissions as well
as governments of EU countries via their embassies in China.
"I
am confident that the annual position paper will become an
increasingly useful tool in promoting access to the Chinese market
as the years go by,'' Batey said.
China's exports to Europe rose 7.4 per cent to US$40.3 billion
while imports soared 21.4 per cent to US$39.7 billion in the first
10 months of this year, according to Chinese customs
statistics.
(China
Daily December 5, 2001)