WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 11, 2000--A report that gauges the risks and opportunities for foreign businesses following China's accession to the WTO concludes that "there is a host of reasons to believe that China will not meet a good number of its WTO obligations," but that China's WTO membership will ultimately mean huge benefits for foreign businesses.
The report, China And The WTO: An Executive Roadmap To Post-WTO China, was prepared by Orbis Publications, a Washington, DC-based publisher of business and economic information on emerging markets. Orbis also publishes the China E-Wire Daily, the China Weekly Fax Bulletin, the monthly China Watch newsletter and the China 2000 Country Report. http://www.orbispublications.com/china.asp
"This report is especially timely now that the US Congress is poised to grant permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status to China later this month," said Stephen M. Foster, Publisher. "With the way now clear to PNTR approval, businesses will start to sharpen their post-WTO strategies."
One sector that has already seen an uptick in foreign investment activity is the auto sector, as foreign companies are beefing up their production capacity in the PRC to supply the China market from within, rather than by increasing imports. But this increased investment activity may backfire, according to report editor Derek Scissors.
"Weak consumer purchasing power and segmented regional markets due to local protectionist measures mean the prospects for the auto industry as a whole have not improved," Scissors says. "The huge expected WTO gains in the agriculture sector may also prove to be illusory," says Scissors, because of government footdragging on WTO compliance. "More promising sectors are likely to be telecommunications, already a big FDI target, and further down the road, the banking sector," he adds.
Among the economic and political risks cited by the report is the possibility of a devaluation of the RMB. "RMB devaluation might resurface as a policy option for the PRC. But it is not objective economic conditions that will cause the PRC to devalue. The choice will be a political one, a salve for outmatched domestic companies," the report notes.
For further information and a complete table of contents, see http://www.orbispublications.com/wto/wto.cfm
Orbis Publications, LLC, 3201 New Mexico Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. tel /202-237-0155; fax 1 202 2327 0596; http://www.orbispublications.com
Contact:
Orbis Publications, LLC, Washington Derek Scissors, 202/237-0155 Fax: 202/237-0596 dscissors@orbispub.com:
