Wang Shouwen, head of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, recently said that while the Chinese market is becoming increasingly open, China has already outdone itself in terms of its WTO commitment to tariff cutting, canceling quotas and so on. Experts believe that in doing so, China is actively fulfilling its obligations as a WTO member country and at the same time improving its own economic development. An open market is a win-win measure. China's further opening up is of great importance to the whole world's economic development.

Cutting Tariffs and Canceling Quotas as Committed

According to Wang Shouwen, by 2012, China had cut products under 737 IRD numbers to a level below the target and cancelled import licenses for more than 800 types of products. Apart from grain, sugar, wool, cotton and a few other products, China has already cancelled quota restrictions on all other imported products. Today, China is gradually pushing zero-tariff treatment on imports from least-developed countries.

China's official statistics show that since China's entrance into WTO, its general tariff level has dropped from 15.3 percent to 9.8 percent. Particularly, its tariff level for industrial products has dropped to 8.9 percent, much lower than the 46.6 percent average tariff level of developing countries. Since 1978, China's import volume has increased by 160 times. China's importation once accounted for less than 1 percent of the world's total, but now it has jumped to 9.5 percent. China has made itself one of the biggest FDI absorbers in the world. Its actual use of foreign capitals had jumped from $46.9 billion in 2001 to $116 billion in 2011, registering a growth rate of 147 percent.

An Open Market Benefiting China

"China has bested its WTO commitment, which is closely related to the country's economic development and prosperity. At the time when China was trying to enter WTO by negotiation and signing agreements, few expected the Chinese economy to grow so fast. For such a big economy as China, it needs both domestic and international markets. Therefore, to expand the scope of opening up is an obvious choice," said Mei Xinyu, a research fellow with the Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, during an interview with People's Daily Overseas Edition.

The world is sharing the great opportunities brought by China's economic take-off. Meanwhile, China is gaining energy from the process of opening up to support its own development. Since China's accession into WTO, China's per-capita GDP had risen from $1,038 in 2001 to $5,432 in 2011. Rising incomes help to improve people's living conditions.

In 2001, 12 Chinese companies were listed among Fortune 500; while in 2011, the number has risen to 61.

Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said that China has adopted a mutually beneficial opening up strategy, but this is not a passive reaction to the theory of big power's responsibility due to the rise of China's international status. It is an internal demand for China to participate in international economic, financial and trade system in an in-depth and comprehensive way that gradually expands China's national interests.

Professor Jiang Xianling of the International Economic and Trade School of the University of International Business and Economics, said to People's Daily Overseas Edition, since China's accession to WTO, when more and more Chinese companies are "going global" and more foreign companies are attracted to China, China's financial market has greatly opened up. The securities industry, insurance industry and banking industry have also been opened to foreign capitals. This is a good platform for the rest of the world.

China Promotes the Opening of World Economy

"The opening of China's market is crucial to the formation of an open world economic system. As China gets a greater share in international trade, the opening level of China is imposing a striking influence on the opening of the whole world economy," said Mei Xinyu. "Opening is beneficial to both sides. On one hand, an increasingly strong China will boost its demand for the external market; on the other hand, China's strong development is becoming a major driving force for global economic growth. More and more countries are depending on China for economic prosperity," he added, offering several examples. In 2008, Germany registered a negative growth of GDP, but in 2009, it saw a miraculous economic rebound. The German media attributed the rise to the booming Chinese economy. China's rising import from Germany has played a major role in lifting Germany's economy.

Jiang summarized the economic situation, saying: "The Chinese financial market is opening in a big way, but we still need to get more in-depth in opening up. The job will not end with the attraction of foreign capital. We need to work out explicit policy details and really lower the threshold for the entry of foreign capital, so as to bring its role into full play in promoting China's economic development." She added that as China's financial system remains weak in coping with risks and relevant systems are not yet developed, the opening of the financial market should be conducted in a cautious and stable way, so as to avoid the invasion of external financial risks. Mei Xinyu commented that the Chinese market will surely open up further in the future, but this does not mean that special departments are not allowed to adopt protective measures for China's core interests during unique periods. "We hope that while China keeps opening up to the outside world, its trade partners will also do the same," Mei stressed.

Wang Shouwen said China will next optimize the import composition, sturdily guide the import of staple commodities, and expand the import of technical equipment, key parts, energy, and raw materials while moderately expanding the import of ordinary consumption products. He also appealed for developed countries to further relax control on export to China to realize trade balance by making full use of their export advantages.