Country Commercial Guide (2004)

Author: Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-05-01
Features: The report covers 19 trading partners, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, the European Union, Russia, Poland, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and South Africa. In 2003, exports to these trading partners accounted for approximately 70% of China's total exports. The report mainly includes the following content: (1) An overview of bilateral trade and investment between China and relevant trading partners; (2) The trade and investment management systems of relevant trading partners; (3) Specific trade measures adopted by relevant trading partners in foreign trade. The report introduces changes in the trade and investment management systems of relevant trading partners in 2003, the development and evolution of trade barriers and investment barriers encountered by Chinese enterprises in foreign markets, and the efforts made by the Chinese government to eliminate these barriers. The WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services defines "commercial presence" as one of the modes of trade in services. In practice, providing services through commercial presence often requires the form of investment, and certain investment restrictions on commercial presence can be classified as trade barriers in services or regarded as investment barriers. To align the classification of barriers in the report with relevant WTO rules, we have categorized investment restrictions involving commercial presence as service trade barriers. The report is published in Chinese, with English provided for reference only.