Focus: China's WTO Anniversary
Toward the "Win-Win"
Long Yongtu
Secretary-General, Boao Forum for Asia, and former Chief Negotiator for the PRC Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation
I would like to thank the US-China Business Council for the kind invitation to deliver a message to com memorate the fifth anniversary of China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
In writing these words, what I remember most is the China-US trade negotiations, which were the most difficult, most torturous, and most complicated, but also the most important in the course of all negotiations of China's accession to the WTO.
At the beginning of those long negotiations, there was much mistrust between the two parties, and this caused many misunderstandings, much suspicion, and even anger. Every step one side took in the negotiations was often interpreted by the other side as a new "trap" or "conspiracy." This doomed the negotiations to progress slowly and sometimes even regress or stall completely.
It seemed imperative at the time for changes in mindset and attitude in the negotiations, and after years of engagement, a new "win-win" approach began to prevail.
The US side gradually came to realize that supporting China's WTO accession was not a "favor" to China. It was not only in the interest of the global multilateral trading system, but was first of all beneficial to the United States. The Chinese side also gradually came to realize that accepting the many conditions for entry was not a "concession" to the United States. It benefited China's establishment of a market economy system, and it would help China more actively and effectively participate in economic globalization.
As China-US negotiations embarked on the road of searching for a win-win outcome, the negotiations took a turn onto the right track. The atmosphere of the negotiations improved, the positions of the two sides got closer, and they quickly reached consensus on many technical details. Finally, in November 1999, the two countries reached a historic agreement, creating the most important condition for China to accede to the WTO in 2001.
Over the last five years, China-US economic and trade relations have, on the whole, been encouraging. As China's trade and economy are growing rapidly, however, some misunderstandings and suspicions have emerged between the two sides, leading to unnecessary frictions from time to time.
In commemorating the fifth anniversary of China's WTO entry, the most important thing, I believe, is that the two countries continue to work together toward the goal of win-win outcomes. To this end, both sides need some changes in their perspectives.
The most important thing for the United States is to understand China's rapid rise correctly.
To some extent, China's WTO entry has demonstrated the nature of China's rise and the direction of its development. When China joined the WTO, it made two basic commitments: first, to comply with internationally accepted rules, and second, to open its markets gradually. Over the last five years, China has earnestly fulfilled these commitments and has become a responsible and open partner for cooperation. The United States should look at China's rise as a peaceful rise that brings opportunities to the world.
As for China, it is important to understand objectively China-US economic and trade relations, especially the trade frictions.
China should not always view US demands as "pressure." In recent years, the most discussed issue has been the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR). The Chinese side already recognizes that IPR protection will not only protect US business interests but will first and foremost aid China's efforts to promote innovation and raise the quality of foreign investment. China should view China-US trade frictions with "an easy mind" and distinguish normal trade frictions from trade protectionism.
In sum, neither side should politicize trade issues, and both should strive to seek win-win results in economic and trade matters.
In commemorating the fifth anniversary of China's WTO entry, I send with this message my best regards to those American colleagues who worked with us to seek a win-win result in the negotiations and thank them for their valuable contributions to the development of economic and trade relations between China and the United States.
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