Look at the news knews reporter Xia Xin
2021-12-09 11:02
In the historical process of reform and opening up, "WTO accession" is a key turning point, and in order to join the WTO, China has "gnawed" one "hard bone" after another.
Yi Xiaozhun, former vice minister of the Ministry of Commerce, former ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of China to the World Trade Organization, and former deputy director general of the World Trade Organization, who participated in the "Roundtable On the 20th Anniversary of China's Accession to the WTO" and participated in the "Roundtable On the 20th Anniversary of China's Accession to the WTO," specifically mentioned two "hard bones" in the program.
The first "hard bone" he specifically mentioned came from the negotiations of the automotive industry, because China had a high degree of protection for cars at that time, so the automotive industry was very panicked, and it was this industry that was the first to shout "wolf is coming" before "joining the WTO." Yi Xiaozhun recalled that at that time, the top management specifically looked for these automobile companies, one by one to do work, and finally persuaded the automotive industry to reduce the tariff on the whole car from 100% at that time to 25%.
On another "hard bone", for a percentage point, China and foreign parties have been deadlocked until the last minute of negotiations, and this "hard bone" is the life insurance industry. Yi Xiaozhun said that at the beginning of the negotiations, the foreign party asked foreign investors to set up wholly-owned life insurance companies in China, which was rejected by the Chinese side at that time, and later the foreign side said that at least when the joint venture was established, the proportion of foreign equity could reach 51%, but at that time, the bottom line of China's negotiations was actually 49%, and the two sides had been deadlocked until the last minute of the negotiations, in order to reach an agreement, and after personal coordination by senior leaders, both sides gave up one percentage point, that is, the Chinese foreign party could each occupy 50% of the equity. This is also China's commitment to life insurance when it joined the WTO.
However, Yi Xiaozhun specifically pointed out that taking these two "hard bones" is not the end of China's expansion of opening up: in July 2018, the Chinese government further reduced the tariff on automobiles from 25% to 15%, while reducing the tariff on auto parts from 15% to 6%; and in life insurance, China has liberalized and agreed to foreign investors to set up wholly-owned or 100% life insurance companies in China. All this shows that China's expansion and opening up not only advances in spite of difficulties, but is always on the road.
