The opportunities that China's membership in the WTO brought did not fall just on the big state enterprises but to lesser known ones as well, for example, Geely Motor Corp in Zhejiang province, which is a perfect example of the challenges and advantages the move brought.
One way to better understand the changes that have taken place in China as a result of its joining the World Trade Organization in 2001 is to take a look at its banking industry over the past decade.
The 10 years seem to have passed in a flash and some people still remember all the apprehensions and anticipation, the challenges and opportunities back in 2001 when China joined the World Trade Organization.
During his recent trip to the rural areas in northern China's Hebei province, Feng Ming took particular care to check whether besides luggage, he had with him a smartphone-like device. "My trip is only for this," said Feng, referring to the small white cell-phone-sized device.
When Medtronic Inc, the world's largest independent medical device company by sales, entered China in the 1990s, there were just a couple of foreign medical device companies here. But since then the relatively young medical devices industry has developed rapidly in China, with more foreign medical equipment companies getting market access and domestic companies flourishing, said Simon Li, president of Medtronic China.
Li Ping, a 24-year-old insurance graduate, eventually joined a domestic life insurance company, turning down appealing offers from two joint ventures.
For Cai Qiang, chief executive officer of American International Assurance Co Ltd (China) - the first foreign insurer to venture into the country - it is time to go "back to basics" with a focus on sustainability.
Although China has been a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) for 10 years, the expansion of foreign investment banks in the country remains slow and joint-venture securities firms are still struggling to gain clients and a larger share of the underwriting business in the Chinese market.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|