DATE=5/26/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA-WTO (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-262837
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO:  China's top trade negotiator is trying to 
convince the country's ailing state-owned enterprises 
of the benefits of China joining the World Trade 
Organization.  V-O-A correspondent Roger Wilkison 
reports Long Yongtu is assuring worried public sector 
managers that China's opening to foreign competition 
will be gradual and that changes will not come 
overnight. 

TEXT:  The English-language China Daily reports Mr. 
Long, who is also Vice-Minister of Foreign Trade, told 
Chinese executives at a forum in Shanghai Thursday 
that they should prepare for foreign competition.  But 
he tempered his call for readiness by saying state-
owned firms still have time to get their act together.  
And he warned Beijing's trading partners not to force 
change too quickly upon China because - in his words -  
it could bring about a backlash.  The China Daily did 
not elaborate on the nature of such a backlash.

Mr. Long has been an enthusiastic booster of China's 
membership in the W-T-O.  Like other reformers in the 
bureaucracy, he hopes competition from foreign firms 
will help China's creaky state-owned enterprises shape 
up.  The China Daily says he enumerated the problems 
Chinese companies face in preparing for the impact of 
globalization on the domestic market: massive 
overproduction, outdated equipment, poor management 
and too much government interference.

But in urging them to get ready for the foreign 
onslaught, Mr. Long is also trying to reassure Chinese 
managers, politicians and bureaucrats, who are worried 
that more open markets will lead to wholesale factory 
shutdowns and increasing unemployment.  The China 
Daily quotes him as saying that Beijing will open the 
trade gates carefully.

Mr. Long's reported remarks came hours after the U-S 
House of Representatives approved granting Chinese 
exports permanent low-tariff access to the U-S market.  
That is part of a Sino-US trade pact negotiated last 
November which paves the way for China to enter the W-
T-O.  Last week, China concluded a similar deal with 
the European Union.  It still needs to strike 
agreements with five other countries.

A U-S official told reporters in Beijing Friday he 
expects the implementation of China's entry into the 
W-T-O will be difficult and long-term.  The official 
says it will take quite a while to change a trading 
regime that has not been totally open to the outside 
world.  As part of its accession to the W-T-O, China 
has pledged to slash tariffs and open its markets more 
widely, especially in the service sector.  (signed)

NEB/HK/RW/JO/KBK 



26-May-2000 08:00 AM EDT (26-May-2000 1200 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.