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Visions of China
50 and Beyond | Inside China | Red Giant | Asian Superpower | Imperial Icon | Discussion | Dispatches
Visions of China TIME Asiaweek Fortune

Short-term pain, long-term gains predicted for China after WTO entry

workers
Workers at a Beijing auto factory safety-test a vehicle  

November 30, 1999
Web posted at: 12:09 p.m. HKT (0409 GMT)

From Beijing Bureau Chief Rebecca MacKinnon

BEIJING (CNN) -- After China joins the World Trade Organization (WTO), Chinese car makers are expected to be hit hard by competition from the big international auto firms.

But most auto workers in China have never heard of the WTO, let alone considered what it might mean for their jobs.

In the countryside, Chinese farmers will be hit hard by cheaper U.S. grain imports. Some will find something new to grow, others will have to stop farming altogether.

 VIDEO
VideoCNN's Rebecca MacKinnon looks at how membership in the WTO will effect China's economic future
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Listen to Economist Laura Tyson of the University of California-Berkeley explain why the WTO is needed

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WTO
 

And economists agree, there will be a negative impact for China in the short term. "A big impact of joining WTO will be labor problems when we already have high unemployment. As of last year China already had 15 to 16 million unemployed in the cities," says economist Hu Angang.

"They ask, 'is it about Americans making money?' I tell them this is a trade off that will benefit everyone in the long run."

The tradeoff, advocates say, is more unemployment now, in exchange for more jobs in the future.

farmer
Joining the WTO may cause Chinese farmers to be hit by cheaper U.S. grain imports, but advocates say more jobs will be created in China in the future  

Those new jobs are expected to be created by private businessman like Chen Jinyue who says he expects to double his workforce. Chen says WTO membership will make it easier to sell his down jackets abroad.

His workers earn just under $100 a month Ð- a decent wage by Chinese standards -Ð but frightening to workers in some other WTO countries.

"With such massive economic shifts from farm to city, from state-owned to private enterprise, many Chinese could fall through the cracks. But China's leaders are betting that integration into the global trade system is the only way to fulfill their dream of becoming a world economic powerhouse."


ASIANOW


RELATED STORIES:
China opens doors to more free trade
November 15, 1999
U.S. officials hold out for WTO deal in China
November 14, 1999
U.S.-China trade talks extend on 'finite and limited' basis
November 13, 1999
U.S., China open eleventh-hour trade talks
November 10, 1999
Schroeder calls for China to join G8, WTO
October 31, 1999
China's Jiang arrives in Britain on historic visit
October 18, 1999

RELATED SITES:
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of P.R.China
Government Information Office, ROC
China Today
Information about China
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East Asian media
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