China has done a good job in honoring its commitments to the World Trade Organization and has basically won the approval of other members. China's top trade official Shi Guangsheng delivered the assessment on Wednesday on the sidelines of the ongoing CPC National Congress.
He says foreign trade will make a major contribution to the country's goal of building a "well－off society."
It's been a year since China joined the WTO and Foreign Trade Minister Shi Guangsheng says the country has done well in living up to its commitments.
He says the trading bloc's members have reviewed 10 of the 16 agenda items related to China's WTO performance and are satisfied with the results.
He says: "Members of WTO were generally satisfied with China's performance on the 10 agenda items. There were some suggestions but China won the approval of most of the members. Some have expressed their extreme satisfaction."
Since becoming a WTO member, China has lowered import tariffs on more than 5,300 commodities and cut its general tariff level from 15 to 12 percent.
Foreign trade has continued to grow since accession. So much so that this year trade volume is expected to reach a record 600 billion US dollars. Foreign direct investment will also exceed 50 billion US dollars.
China hopes to quadruple the size of its economy within two decades. Minister Shi Guangsheng says foreign trade should also expand by the same amount by 2020.
He also says: "In 2000, China's foreign trade volume stood at 474.3 billion US dollars. A simple calculation tells us that by 2020, if the objective is fulfilled, it will be close to 2 trillion US dollars."
The foreign trade minister says reaching the target won't be an easy job. That's because China is now a part of the sophisticated world of international trade. But the country will nonetheless strive for the goal.
Joining the WTO was a major achievement for China, given all the tough talks that went into the membership process. One year later the Chinese people are already learning to make use of the opportunities membership has to offer.
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