中国入世十年回想当年 CHINAS efforts to join the World Trade Organisation dragged on for 15 years, long enough to turn black hair white, as Zhu Rongji, Chinas former prime minister, put it. Even after membership was granted, ten years ago this week, Mr Zhu expected many headaches, including the loss of customs duties and the distress of farmers exposed to foreign competition. Yet the bet paid off for China. It has blossomed into the worlds greatest exporter and second-biggest importer. The marriage of foreign know-how, Chinese labour and the open, global market has succeeded beyond anyones predictions. It is instead Chinas trading partners who now contemplate its WTO membership with furrowed brows . They have a variety of complaints: that China exports too much, swamping their markets with cheap manufactured goods, subsidised by an undervalued currency; that it hoards essential inputs, such as rare earths, for its own firms; and that it still skews its own market against foreign companies, in some cases by being slow to implement WTO rules , in others by suddenly imposing unwritten rules that are unfavourable or unknowable to foreigners. The meddling state lets multinationals in, only to squeeze them dry of their valuable technologies and then push them out. Much of this criticism is right. China made heroic reforms in the years around its WTO entry. That raised expectations that it has conspicuously failed to meet. It signed up for multilateral rules, but neglected the rule of law at home. Free trade did not bring wider freedoms, and even the trade was not exactly free. It is in Chinas interest to liberalise its exchange rate further, to prevent local officials from discriminating against foreigners and above all to do far more to support the global trading system. The WTO is undermined when any member flouts the rules, never mind one as big as China. Too big to be a bystanderor to be kept out But Chinas sins should be put into perspective. In terms of global trade consumers everywhere have gained from cheap Chinese goods. Chinese growth has created a huge market for other countries exports. And Chinas remaining barriers are often exaggerated. It is more open to imports than Japan was at the same stage of development, more open to foreign direct investment than South Korea was until the 1990s. Its tariffs are capped at 10% on average; Brazils at over 30%. And in China, unlike India, you can shop at Walmart, most of the time. As for the hurdles foreign firms face in China, they are disgracefulbut sadly no worse than in other developing countries. The grumbles are louder in China chiefly because the stakes are higher. Foreigners may have won a smaller slice of Chinas market than they had hoped, but China is a bigger pie than anyone dared to expect. Had China been kept out of the WTO, there would have been less growth for everybody. And the WTO still provides the best means to discipline and cajole. Rather than delivering congressional ultimatums, America and others could make more use of the WTOs rules to curb Chinas worst infractions. So celebrate Chinas ten years in the WTO: we are all richer because of it. But, when it comes to trade, Chinas rulers now badly need to grow up. Their cheating is harming their own consumers and stoking up protectionism abroad. That could prove to be economic self-harm on an epic scale.
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