China has honored some of its WTO commitments ahead of schedule. The revised Foreign Trade Law took effect as of July 1, which opened the foreign trade rights a half year earlier than expected. Besides that, sectors of banking, insurance and tourism have been accessible to foreign competitors earlier than China had promised.

This is reaffirmed by Mr. Liao Xiaoqi, Vice Minister of Commerce at the inaugural launch ceremony of the World Investment Report 2004, released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Wednesday in Beijing.

The 30-plus laws and regulations covering scores of service trades such as finance, distribution, logistics, tourism, and construction which have been promulgated by China since its WTO accession serve as a sound legal foundation for an open service trade system of the WTO member, Mr. Liao said. He added that these laws and regulations make it possible for foreign service providers to enter into more sectors and areas more easily than ever in China.

He also mentioned the regime governing foreign investment on the commercial sector in effect as of June 1 as another evidence of the fact that China has been as good as its words on distribution service.

All of this, he concluded, has proven how China has sped up its pace of opening up since its WTO admission in 2001. As a result, a comprehensive, sweeping and multi-layered open China market within a legal framework has already been in place.

The World Investment Report this year observes the trend of the changes of interest of foreign investment from manufacturing to service industry. In early 1970s', only a quarter of foreign direct investment (FDI) went to the service industry. Now it has soared to 60 percent, or 440 million USD.

The structure of the FDI in the service industry has also changed. Traditionally focused on trade and finance, foreign capital now has developed better appetite toward power, telecommunication, water service and various commercial sectors.

By People's Daily Online