Chinese entrepreneurs hope to benefit from WTO membership

May 15, 2000
Web posted at: 2:09 p.m. HKT (0609 GMT)

In this story: Membership process in progress China's labor force: Cheap and plentiful RELATED STORIES, SITES

SHANGHAI, China (CNN) -- Chinese entrepreneurs and a growing number of Chinese companies are expected to benefit most if Beijing is allowed to join the World Trade Organization , a group of nations that have banded together to improve their own economies by opening trade with one another.

"After China joins the World Trade Organization , things will be better for us," said Tony Hao of Zhengwei Technology, a multimedia service provider. "We're a small company, and until now we've had trouble getting government authorization to export. W.T.O. will change that."

WTO membership will require China to open its markets to other members, which will allow businessmen like Hao to sell more goods and grow faster. In return, WTO member nations will be allowed to sell their goods in China, a nation of more than a billion potential consumers.

VIDEO Beijing Bureau Chief Rebecca MacKinnon reports that as the Chinese seek entry into the World Trade Organization, business there already are reaching out to world markets through the Internet. Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     MESSAGE BOARD Inside China

Membership process in progress

But the WTO is a long way from opening its doors to China. Before China can join, it must sign trade agreements with each WTO member nation. Currently, Beijing is between negotiation rounds with the European Union, which has hit a snag over EU access to China's automobile, insurance and telecommunications markets.

Shanghai entrepreneur Chen Qi indicated that Chinese membership in the WTO is crucial for his business. For example, Chen markets a nail gun which he said is safer than any other nail gun on the world market. Now, Chen's challenge is getting Beijing's permission to access the world market.

"This is a new product, so my thinking is that we need to promote it globally," Chen said.

Currently, Chen is accessing the global market via the Internet , selling his products on the Web site www.meetchina.com .

China's labor force: Cheap and plentiful

In addition, Chen employs former peasant farmers on the outskirts of Shanghai to manufacture his products, an example of how expanded international trade might affect China's overall labor force. As the nation's population of more than one billion grows, more jobs will be needed. Those additional jobs might come as a result of increased trade with WTO member nations.

China's labor force is both large, and inexpensive, compared to many other nations, another detail WTO members might find appealing.

"We have the same technology and quality standards as overseas companies," said Hao, "but our labor costs are much lower, so we're very competitive for export."

But it is just those qualities that has labor unions in WTO nations worried. Labor leaders and WTO critics fear China's cheap and plentiful workforce will prompt business owners to take their jobs and move them to China.

Concerns on the labor issue helped contribute to massive, organized labor union protests at WTO meetings in Washington earlier this year and last year in Seattle.

Beijing Bureau Chief Rebecca MacKinnon contributed to this report.

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