China hopes for mutually-beneficial opening-up within WTO

BOAO, Hainan - China said Saturday that it hoped to see equal opening-up within the World Trade Organization.

"Before China further opens up some sectors, we hope to get in return equal opening-up within the WTO, and some developed countries in particular can open corresponding sectors," said Chen Deming, China's commerce minister, at the Boao Forum for Asia annual meeting running from April 14 to 16 in the southern island province of Hainan.

"Such opening-up should be established in mutual-benefit and win-win basis," Chen said.

China has never stopped in its opening up and opening-up is needed for China's own development, Chen said.

In recent years, China has constantly adopted opening-up measures. In terms of opening up in trade in service, China ranks the ninth in the world and at present foreign business people can take part in trade activities in China's more than 100 service sectors, said Chen.

In the last decade, China's average tariff rate was down from 15.3 percent before its entry into the WTO to the current 9.8 percent. The country's export and import volumes both increased drastically.

The minister said that joining the WTO was a "brave yet hard" choice and it was a "right" choice China has made. China would adhere to its reform and opening up policy in the future and would like to work with other countries to safeguard new rules on global multilateral trade.

In the next five years, China will further its opening-up, placing equal importance on both import and export and on both attracting foreign investment and investing overseas, Chen said.

"China makes opening-up a fundamental national policy. Yet, fields and scales opening to the outside are different at different times," Chen said.

More than 1,400 people from around the globe attended the forum, a non-governmental platform for global leaders in the political, business and academic spheres.