Release of CDRF’S Publication: A Decade After China’s WTO Accession
On May 30, 2012, China Development Research Foundation (CDRF) holds the press conference to release its report A Decade after China’s WTO Accession. Based on impact evaluation, this project examines the past decade after China entered the WTO, and explores possible engines for China’s economic and social development in the coming decade. Mr. Wang Luolin, Former Standing Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Vice Chairman of the China Development Research Foundation, attend this conference and address the opening ceremony.
In April 2011, CDRF initiates its key research project of “A Decade after China’s WTO Accession”, and organized the research team headed by Mr. Wang Luolin. Mr. Lu Mai, CDRF Secretary General, and Mr. Long Guoqiang, Director-General of DRC’s Research Department of Foreign Economic Relations, serve as the deputy head. The research team is composed of dozens of leading experts from foreign and domestic organizations, such as National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Commerce, Development Research Center of the State Council(DRC), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, University of International Business and Economics, Shanghai WTO Consultancy Center, Shenzhen WTO Affairs Consultation Center, Bank of Communications, OECD and UNDP. The research team explores this subject from various angles, including macro-economy, foreign trade, industrial development, construction of social security system, regional economic collaboration and international review, and compares China’s actual performance with those predictions before WTO accession. It systematically evaluates how China’s WTO accession impacts China’s social and economic progress as well as the international economic system, discusses China’s development path in the coming decade and explores the engines and priority of China’s middle- and long-term development, ultimately putting forward a series of policy recommendations to boost China’s reforms and development in the coming decade.
According to the research team, China cannot stick to the previous development model in spite of its great success. Its opening-up requires new strategic targets and priorities. Firstly, the priority of China’s opening-up should expand from entity economy to financial industry, rule-making and global governance. Secondly, China’s trade and investment should lay equal stress on manufacturing and service, instead of sticking to the previous manufacturing-dominated model. Thirdly, cross-border investment should focus on both attracting foreign investment and going abroad, instead of relying on the former as China did in the past. Fourthly, China should safeguard both domestic and overseas interests. Fifthly, the regional layout of China’s opening-up should be more balanced.
In CDRF’s publication A Decade after China’s WTO Accession, Mr. Wang Luolin points out in the preface that the experience over the past decade fully proves that China’s WTO accession boosts its opening-up and benefits not only Chinese people but the whole world. In face of bumpy global recovery, Chinese economy is ushered into a critical stage of transforming its growth model, which brings about both challenges and opportunities. Therefore it needs to secure a favorable external environment for mutual benefit, boost economic development and enhance its ability of participating in and promoting global opening-up and collaboration.
According to Mr. Lu Mai, entering WTO is a historical choice for China’s opening-up strategy, since this decision exerts profound influence on not only China’s reform and opening-up but the global economic and political pattern, thus a win-win choice for both China and the world. The research team looks into the future based on impact evaluation of current achievement, and puts forward specific policy recommendations for China’s opening-up strategies in the future.
