|
| Portfolio |
|
|
| Mr. Yi Xiaozhun's portfolio covers the Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs, Department of WTO Affairs, Department of Policy Research, China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges, Association of International Trade and China Society for WTO Studies. |
|
| Contact Editor |
|
|
Add:No.2 Dong Chang'an Avenue,Beijing China (100731)
Tel:(010)51651200-613
Fax:(010)65677512 |
|
|
|
| Vice Minister Yi Xiaozhun Delivered a Speech in the China-ASEAN FTA Forum |
|
| | From:M Article type: |
On January 7, Yi Xiaozhun, Vice Minister of Commerce, attended China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA) Forum in Nanning, Guangxi, and delivered a speech in the opening ceremony.
Yi said, eight years ago, with the great efforts and supports of leaders from China and ASEAN, both sides signed the China - ASEAN Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation which set up the goal of completing construction of China ASEAN FTA in 2010. During past eight years, they also signed China-ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement(TGA), Trade in Service Agreement (TSA)and Trade in Investment Agreement (TIA) respectively and finally made such goal come true.
Yi stated that according to the TGA, more than 90% of goods from China and the six original members of ASEAN could enjoy Zero Tariff. Since January 1of 2010, the average tariff of China for ASEAN down decreasedwas trimmed from 9.8% to 0.1%from 9.8%, and the average tariff of ASEAN for China downwas trimmed from 12.8% decreased to 0.6%from 12.8%. By 2015, the policy of zero-tariff rate for 90 percent of Chinese goods is expected to extend to the four new ASEAN members. In addition, Besides, according to the TSA and TIA, the service industries s departments will further open up further and the investment environment will be greatly vigorously improved, which will make the market access for enterprises of both sides more convenient and bring more opportunities.
As a win-win system, China-ASEAN FTA, based on full consideration of mutual economic development level and market capacity, realizes the share of benefits from the economic integration by expanding the market access and eliminating the trade and investment barrier. More and more benefits have been enjoyed by the two sides thanks to measures of FTA, like Early Harvest Program with the main content of reducing tax of agricultural products in 2004 and later opening-up of markets of goods and services. The value of bilateral trade remarkably increased from US$78.2 billion in 2003 to US$231.1 billion in 2008. The value of import from ASEAN increased from US$47.3 billion in 2003 to US$117 billion in 2008. According to the statistics of Chinese Customs, in 2008, China reduced the tax of 3.6 billion yuan for products imported from ASEAN which strengthened the export competitive power of ASEAN products and reduced the operation cost of related enterprises. With the rapid growth of bilateral trade, the scale of mutual investment and mobility of people have been increasing. The number of tourists from China to ASEAN increased from 1.91 million in 2003 to 4.52 million in 2008. The direct investment in ASEAN increased from US$230 million in 2003 to US$2.18 billion in 2008, with a growth of nearly 9 times. Now more and more enterprises of China consider ASEAN as the main destination for investment.
Yi also emphasized that both sides had seriously implemented these agreements to open market for each other so as to reduce the bad effects by the international financial crisis and promote the economic recovery of both sides. Particularly, the decreasing margin of export to China of ASEAN is obviously lower than that of its global export, which played a positive role in stabilizing the foreign trade of ASEAN countries.
According to Yi, governments of both sides should implement in earnest these agreements and constantly promote the positive effectiveness of the FTA so as to make the FTA beneficial for enterprises and people. Additionally, all governments concerned should boost the construction of infrastructure and enhance exchanges in the fields of highway, railway, aviation, and information telecommunication so as to meet satisfy the demand for even greater development of bilateral economic and trade relations.
|
|
All articles marked with "Article type: Original" posted on the website of the Ministry of Commerce and its sub-sites are copyrighted by this Website and its sub-sites. Any reproduction or use by any other websites, media or individuals must be attached with a clear indication of "Source: Ministry of Commerce Website".
All articles posted on this website or its sub-sites marked with "Article type: reproduced" or "Article type: translated" and "Article type: redistributed" come from other media, and are provided solely for the user's information, which does not mean this Website or its sub-sites endorse the ideas thereof or assume any legal liability or responsibility for their authenticity. Any other media, websites or individuals must maintain the source of information indication on this Website or its sub-sites when using the information, and shall assume legal liability for the use.
|
