APEC Report Highlights China's Progress to Meet Bogor Goals
An independent APEC Report has cited China's strong commitment to economic reforms in order to meet WTO and APEC goals.
The report also highlights major trade and investment policy initiatives progressed by China. These include efforts to build and refine the legal infrastructure covering trade and investment, attempts to improve transparency and efforts to eliminate non-tariff measures.
These observations are part of an independent review of China's Individual Action Plan (IAP), which serves as a roadmap for APEC economies to achieve the goals of free and open trade and investment in the APEC region. Agreed in Bogor, Indonesia, in 1994, the target for achieving the Bogor Goals is 2010 for industrialized economies and 2020 for developing economies.
While noting that reform is an evolutionary process, the Independent Expert who prepared the report, Dr. Hank Lim from Singapore Institute of International Affairs commended the political support for reform in China.
"The highest Chinese political leadership has clearly reaffirmed its strong commitment to reform its economy based on WTO and voluntary APEC commitments," Dr. Lim said.
"China has made remarkable progress in liberalizing, regulating and restructuring its economy to be more transparent and competitive, especially since its WTO accession.
"However, it will take time to fully implement the administrative, judiciary and institutional changes.
"China's economic reform accomplishments are remarkable and historic, especially as it also must balance the many other political, economic and social challenges it faces.
"China has performed well on its principal commitments to the WTO, especially in the area of tariff reductions, the gradual phase-out of Non-Tariff Measures and in the liberalization of service sectors.
"The accession of China to the WTO has greatly accelerated the progress of liberalization and deregulation as China's economy transforms itself from a planned socialist economy to a socialist market economy."
The report notes the strong commitment by the Chinese Government to pursue reforms in the judiciary and law enforcement agencies, as strong enforcement is critical for market forces to quickly take hold.
"High priority has been given to the establishment of independent courts and the appointment of high caliber judges and prosecutors to make the application and execution of laws fair, transparent and effective."
Summaries of each of the thirteen areas of assessment are now available on the APEC website (www.apec.org). The full report will be available on the APEC website once it has been presented to APEC Senior Officials in Pucón, Chile, on June 3.
Four APEC Member Economies are having their IAPs' reviewed at the current round of APEC meetings in Chile. This process involves a presentation by the Independent Expert to a meeting of Member Economies followed by an opportunity for these economies to question the economy under review on the details of their IAP. The review of China's IAP took place in Pucón on Monday.