A recent issue of the nomic systemic reform and Icstructuring. news headlined on This will also imply China's marketisation and the threat to as internationalisation. The many as 40 million ended with the jobs in China arising phrase "the formation of China's market from its entry to the economy will rise above all World Trade obstacles". Organisation this The sector that may benefit year. ZHANG KAI textiles. most from the accession is The USA, EU. from the October Turkey and others will forReview group of mally cancel all quota restricsupporters of the tions on China's textile exports by 2005. Next to that Fourth International, is the electronics industry. wrote this analysis of The World Bank gave an the situation in optimistic estimate of December. China's annual growth to be 2%. After 15 years of negotiation, Niu Wenyuan, Chief Scientist of the Sustained and making maximum concessions to V'O members. China eventually gained Develonment Division of the Strategy China accession to the WTO. Academy of Sciences, estiThe mass media in China mated that in the next five to ten years, about 30 to 40 milwas filled However, let us take a close with euphoria. lion jobs will be created. look at some of the facts Agriculture revealed by the press in order However, there are worries to come to some assessment about possible severe of the pros and cons ot impacts on agriculture, state China's accession.
enterprises and current prodThe editorial of the Hong uct quality. With China drasKong Wen Hui Bao, on the tically reducing tariffs on day following China's acces- imports, foreign industrial sion wrote that this imnlies and agricultural goods may China will enjoy multi-lat- be dumped into China, creat-. eral, steady and uncondi- ing serious difficulties for tional most tavoured nation' Chinese products to comtreatment, defend China's pete. state interests, and prompt It is estimated that in the China's accelerated eCO. four years starting from the beginning of 2002, the overall level of tariffs on industrial goods will drop from 15.3% to 12%. The decrease will affect over 70% of tariff items, and low tariff items (lower than 10%) will increase to about half of all items.
The average tariff rate for over 300 information technology products will be reduced to about 5%, of which over 100 items will be tariff-free.
By 2005, there will be further drastic changes, and items with tariff over 25% will be reduced by half from now, and constitute less than 5% of all items. The general tariff rate will go below the average level of developing countries (9-10%). ' The tariff on automobiles will go down from the current 70-90% to a standard 25% by July 2006. This will create much pressure on the domestic car nasty It is also estimated that with such competition and with the economic restructuring, tens of millions of workers will be laid off. The impact on peasants will also be serious: the price of ImnArteC soya beans, for example, is 15-20% lower than domestic products. The tariff rate is oniu 30a According the tariff agreement, China will reduce tariffs on agricultural prodOutlook