Ministry of Commerce identifies '05missions to sustain market boom

Chinese Ministry of Commerce makes a modern commercial circulation system on the top of its task list for 2005. Commerce Minister Bo Xilai called for an early promulgation of the Development Guideline for Circulation Sector and Policies for Promotion of Development of Circulation Section. He vowed to strengthen the market monitoring and adjustment mechanism and push the reform in the sector forward.

Consumption enthusiasm has pushed the value of China market up to more than 15 trillion yuan. Retailing sales of consumer products is predicted to hit a record high of 5.2 trillion yuan for the whole year of 2004 and production materials managed 10.3 trillion yuan for the first 11 months. The momentum will continue next year.

Private sedans, housing and communication products are the new favorites of consumers. Domestic consumption is regarded as the powerhouse of the country¡¯s sustained development next year.

China's foreign trade, said Bo in his work report at National Commerce Conference in Beijing, need to grow in a better way. Both models of the exports growth and foreign trade management should be improved.

Bo required to have detailed regulations formulated to ensure the operability of the Foreign Trade Law.

As the most attractive destination for foreign capital, contractual foreign fund influx into China has accumulated up to more than 1trillion USD and this year's actual use of foreign capital is expected to exceed 60 billion USD. At a Sino-ROK cooperation meeting in Beijing last week Bo promised to create a better condition for foreign investors.

And Bo is also clearly aware of the importance of using the foreign capital wisely. He hopes the foreign investment help to upgrade the industrial upgrading and promote technical innovation.

It's a two-prolonged strategy. Introducing more capital into the market is one hand. On the other China is paying more and more attention to encourage its businesses to tap overseas market. The Ministry of Commerce will continue its reform to facilitate Chinese companies' forays into overseas market.

The scandal of China Aviation Oil (CAO) is a morning call alarming enough for any Chinese companies which have ambitions for overseas presence. It will not slow down their paces. But they have to bear in mind that risk exposure should be in their considerations for decision making and that strict observation of law is never something you can bargain.

China is ready to play an active role in pushing the new round of WTO negotiations forward. Mr. Bo is preparing for the 6th WTO Ministerial Meeting to be held in Hong Kong. He noted China is willing to consolidating and developing multilateral and regional cooperation on economy and trade.

China and ASEAN have started the process of building a free trade zone. China is or will be in free trade talks with some other countries such as Chile, New Zealand and Gulf countries.

But trade disputes arise when trade expands. So it is an important task for Bo's ministry to deal with trade frictions to protect the national interests and economic safety. Technical barriers, safeguard measures, dumping charges are all stumbling stones on the way of Chinese products to the world market.

The Ministry of Commerce will put a pre-warning and fast response mechanism for trade disputes into place as early as possible. Concerted cooperation between the central government, local governments, intermediaries and enterprises is necessary.

The Ministry of Commerce understands the significance of having a well-regulated level play field. It will make efforts on optimizing the market environment and stepping up the protection on intellectual property rights. A new interpretation of law by the Supreme People's Court a few days ago has IPR infringements face harsher penalties.

Bo also vowed to improve his department's capability of performing their responsibilities. He called for faster progress on construction of legal framework concerning the commerce. He recognized the necessity of speeding up the legislation of the anti-trust law.

By People's Daily Online