XueRongjiu
TheWorldTradeOrganization(WTO)wasestablishedin1995,andChinajoinedtheorganizationin2001.InordertojointheWTO,Chinahadtoagreetoalloftheorganization鈥檚existingagreements,coveringtradeingoods,tradeinservicesandintellectualpropertyrights.Ontheoccasionofthe15thanniversaryofChina鈥檚admissiontotheWTOinDecember2016,XueRongjiu,ViceChairmanofChinaSocietyforWTOStudies,sharedhisthoughtswithChinAfricaonawiderangeofrelatedtopics,includingChina鈥檚gainsfromandcontributionstothemultilateraltradeorganization,marketeconomystatus,surrogatecountryissues,andtradeprotectionism.Editedexcerptsfollow:峥踞烤鈥淪incethereformandopeninguppolicywasimplementedinthelate1970s,nearly90countrieshaveacknowledgedChinaasamarketeconomy,butsomecountriesarestillreluctanttoadmititinordertorestrainChina鈥檚economicdevelopment.Article15andthesurrogatecountrymethodareallmethodsemployedbythesecountriestorestrainChina鈥檚development.XueRongjiu,ViceChairmanofChinaSocietyforWTOStudiesASChinawasoneofthelargesteconomiesintheworld,itwasnottreatedcompletelyasadevelopingcountrywhenitjoinedtheWTOin2001.Backthen,Chinawastransformingfromaplannedeconomytoamarketeconomy.Therefore,inadditiontothenearly30multilateralagreements,Chinawasrequiredtofollowsomespecialtermsandrules,includingtransitionalperiodexamination,specialsafeguardmeasuresandArticle15.TransitionalperiodexaminationrequiresChinatoreportitspolicyimplementationandacceptexaminationbyothermemberstates.SpecialsafeguardmeasuresmaybetakenwhenothercountriesareaffectedbyimportsfromChina.TheseWTOmembersrestrainimportsfromdevelopingcountriessuchasChinainordertoprotecttheirdomesticindustries.Therestraintmethodsincludegrowthraterestrictionandexportquotas.Developedcountriestook10years(1995-2005)toremovetherestriction.However,whenitcameto2005,theyespeciallypostponedbythreemoreyearscancelingtherestrictiononChina.AndChinaacceptedit.Article15wasexploitedtousethesurrogatecountrymethodagainstChineseexports.Underthemethod,theauthoritiesdeterminewhetherornottoimposetariffsonthebasisofreferencepricesinathirdcountryratherthanproductpricesintheexportingcountry.Theprotocol,however,saysthat鈥渋nanyevent,鈥漌TOmembersmaynotusethesurrogatecountrymethodagainstChineseexportsbeyondthe15-yeartransitionperiodfollowingChina鈥檚WTOaccession.SinceChinajoinedtheWTOin2001,ithasadheredtoWTOrulesandthusbenefitedfromthemechanism.First,byfollowingWTOrules,Chineseenterpriseshavebeenprotectedintheinternationaltradingenvironment.Second,foreignenterprisesaremorewillingtodevelopbusinessinChinabecausetheycanbesafeguardedbyregulationsinamoredevelopedtradingenvironment.Third,domesticawarenessofabidingbylawsandregulationshasbeenenhanced,sothatfurtherprogresscanbemadeinpolitical,economicandsocialdevelopment.Besides,asChinahasbecometheworld鈥檚largestgoodstraderandthesecondlargesteconomy,thenationhasreachedahigherinternationalpositionbyvirtueofwhichitcanparticipatetoagreaterextentandhavealargersayinglobaleconomicgovernance.Meanwhile,onNovember8,2016,theEuropeanCommissionreleasedanewlegislativeproposal,replacingthe鈥渕arketeconomy鈥漵tandardwiththeprincipleof鈥渕arketdistortion.鈥滱pparently,theEuropeanUnion(EU)istryingtopleasebothChinaandEuropeanindustriesvulnerabletoimportsfromChina.
XINHUAAcontainershipatLianyungangport,eastChina鈥檚JiangsuProvinceonAugust8
ChinahasbeenpayingcloseattentiontoArticle15sincethebeginningof2016,withseveralseniorgovernmentofficialsstatingthattheEUshouldfulfillitsdueobligationafterthearticle鈥檚expirationonDecember11.Unfortunately,theUnitedStatesandtheEUdon鈥檛wanttoterminatetheclause.TheEuropeanParliamenthasevenpassedaproposaltodenyChina鈥檚marketeconomystatus.TheChineseGovernmentandChinesescholarsdon鈥檛thinktheEuropeanParliament鈥檚decisionisappropriate.NowtheEU,partlyinfluencedbyChina鈥檚attitude,haspassedthisnewproposalinwhichtheEUhasremovedChinafromitslistofnon-marketeconomiesbutstillstickstousingthesurrogatecountrymethodforcountrieswithmarketdistortions.Theymayterminatetheclausewhileplanningtoextenditthroughdomesticlegislation.ChinadeemsitinappropriatefortheEUtoextendtheclauseunderanewcover.IftheEUpassesthedomesticlegislativeproposalaftertheclauseisended,ChinacansuetheEUintheWTOandsolveproblemsviatheWTOdisputesettlementmechanism.IftheEUdoesnotaccepttheWTOverdict,ChinacanadoptcountermeasuresauthorizedbytheWTO.IftheEUdoesnotusethedomesticlegislativeproposalasamethodtoextendthesurrogatecountrymethod,Sino-EUeconomicandtraderelationswillbeadvanced;otherwise,therelationswillbeharmed.Inaddition,thereluctancebysomecountriestoadmitChina鈥檚marketeconomystatusneedstobeaddressed.First,noconsistentconceptofmarketeconomyexistsglobally.AccordingtotheWTO鈥檚GeneralAgreementonTariffsandTrade,ifpricesinacountryarecompletelymanipulatedbythegovernment,thecountryisdefinedasanon-marketeconomy.Nowadays,90percentofpricesinChinahavebeenliberalized,soChinashouldnotbedefinedasanonmarketeconomy.Second,there鈥檚nounifieddefinitionofamarketeconomyintheUnitedStatesandtheEU.Besides,theirstandardsareoftenpoliticized,makingthesituationevenmorecomplicated.China鈥檚marketeconomy,tosomeextent,isinaccordancewiththoseoftheEUandtheUnitedStatesbecausetheyfunctionwellinresourceallocation.However,whenmarketfailuresoccur,people鈥檚livesaredeeplyaffected.The2008globalfinancialcrisis,whichexposedlotsofproblemsandweaknessesofthosemarketeconomies,firststartedintheUnitedStates,themostdevelopedmarketeconomyintheworld.Therefore,ChinashouldlearntoavoidsuchproblemsandestablishitsownmarketeconomywithChinesecharacteristics.AmarketeconomywithChinesecharacteristicshastwosides:ontheonehand,weadmitthebasicfunctionsofamarketeconomy;ontheotherhand,thegovernmentwillstandoutasa鈥渧isiblehand鈥漣ncaseofmarketfailures.Bothvisibleandinvisiblehandsareemployedinourmarketeconomy.AlthoughChinahasitsownproblemsandisfacedwithaslowglobaleconomy,itcanmaintaineconomicgrowthof6to7percent,whichwillalsobenefittheglobaleconomy.Sincethereformandopening-uppolicywasimplementedinthelate1970s,nearly90countrieshaveacknowledgedChinaasamarketeconomy,butsomecountriesarestillreluctanttoadmititinordertorestrainChina鈥檚economicdevelopment.Article15andthesurrogatecountrymethodareallmethodsemployedbythesecountriestorestrainChina鈥檚development.InregardtothisdevelopmentonealsoneedstoconsiderwhethertheWTOmultilateraltradingsystemhasinsomewaybeenaffectedbymountingantiglobalizationandtradeprotection.Theriseoftradeprotectionismhappenedaftertheeruptionoftheglobalfinancialcrisisin2008becausesomecountriestriedtoprotecttheirownmanufacturersbynotallowingproductsmadebyforeignrivalstoentertheirdomesticmarkets.TheWTOfunctionsasfollows.Firstly,ifonerandomlyviolatestraderules,otherscanreporttheviolationtotheWTO,whichcancensuretheperpetratorandbringitontotherighttrack.Secondly,ifone鈥檚behaviorgoesagainsttherules,othercountriescancomplainthroughthedisputesettlementmechanism.ThedefendantmustaccepttheverdictgivenbytheWTOpanel.Amongallinternationaleconomicorganizations,therefore,theWTOisplayingthebiggestroleinfightingantiglobalizationandtradeprotection.ChinahasgrownintoacoreWTOmemberandwillcontinuetoembracetheWTO-basedmultilateraltradesysteminthefuture.AbidingbyrulesofthesystemandhelpingtheWTOgrowintoabetterorganizationisgoodfortheglobaleconomicrecovery.CA