Call for open market vs. regional trade protectionism
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E-mail CNTV, December 12, 2013
As China is now calling for a more open and free global market, some developed countries are pursuing regional trade zones like the Transpacific Partnership Agreement to combat the flood of Chinese products. Experts say this has created a risk of protectionism and even trade wars.
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Review: China's 12 years in WTO |
For over a billion Chinese, the country's entry into the World Trade Organization is a moment filled with cheers, but followed by mounting challenges in the following decade.
China promised to open the market by bringing down tariffs. The ensuing flood of giant multinationals put tremendous pressure on the country's small and medium-sized enterprises.
Li Mingliang runs a private fish processing company. The heavy competition once nearly forced him into bankruptcy. But today, he sees opportunities rather than challenges in the global free market
"Today my products can not only be sold in China, but are exported to neighboring countries like Japan and South Korea. The whole world can be my potential market. We are all connected. A decade ago, that was unimaginable," Li Mingliang said.
But the rise of Chinese exporters has caused concern in many countries. Even the world's superpower is struggling to cope with the flood of low-cost Chinese goods.
Some of US manufacturers have either shut down or turned to other businesses. And developed countries like the US and Japan seem to be more interested in regional trade agreements like the TPP that excludes China than a global free market.
Some experts say this could result in trade protectionism and split an integrated global market into fragments.
"Over the past 12 years, China's entry to the WTO has lifted hundreds of millions of people in the country, and reshaped the global economic landscape. That's particularly true during the global economic crisis, when China's continued growth becomes a stabilizing factor and a catalyst for the world's recovery. Today experts say any transpacific regional trade agreement without the participation of China could be incomplete.
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