Long added that WTO entry will bring dramatic changes and have an impact on China's international economic cooperation and the operation of Chinese enterprises. Changes will be most in the following three areas:

Economic environment
China's economic development and international cooperation will help to boost the international economic environment. The commitment made by China on its entry into the WTO indicates that the PRC will deal with foreign trade in line with international common practices. Moreover, China will establish a responsible image by further opening up its market, a fact that will prove of great importance in improving China's business and investment environment.

Restructuring of society
A good economic environment will help China build a society better able to meet the demands of a socialist market economy. Three factors are required for this: a stable, transparent and predictable law system (China is already improving its external legal systems according to WTO standards and its own commitments); an incorruptible, highly efficient and standard political system; and a fairer, more favourable and orderly market environment.

Open policy system
As part of creating a more open policy system, the Chinese government has cut tariffs from 15.3% in 2001 to 12%, and cancelled the import quota required for many products.

Long concluded that the post-WTO changes in the international environment and in China's mechanism and policies will help to strengthen the PRC's global economic cooperation, which will also be conducted in a more favourable environment.

More Opportunities for Asian Economies
Elaborating on Long's comments, Sun Zhenyu, the first Chinese ambassador to the WTO, said that China will cut tariffs and non-tariff barriers, and enact new laws and regulations in a bid to offer more opportunities to other Asian countries.

He added that these changes would take place over the next few years and comply with WTO rules.

China is deepening its open policy in various ways, noted Sun, adding that these included widening the areas in which policies are opening, framing laws to safeguard these policies and shifting from a unilateral open policy to a more cooperative policy that includes other WTO members.

China's WTO entry will also improve the multilateral trade system, said Sun, who also noted that the country will take an active part in a new round of global trade negotiations at the WTO Doha meeting.

Sun said that China's economic cooperation with other Asian countries has been progressing well, and WTO entry would extend trade exchanges in the region. With a population of 1.3 billion, China is expected to achieve a total import and export volume worth US$680 billion in 2005.

Sun said that China would work effectively to help cement Asia's position in a new multilateral trade system, protect developing countries' legal rights and build a new international trade system.

Though China's WTO entry would intensify competition in particular areas in some countries, it will open up many more markets, as well as open China's massive market to Asian countries. Sun noted that China will develop trade cooperation with Asian countries based on equality and mutual benefit.

He also pointed out that the many uncertainties in the current world economic climate meant that Asia could only mitigate the risks, achieve stability and a common prosperity by intensifying mutual cooperation.