Sun Zhenyu, China's Ambassador to the World Trade Organization, made the following remarks at a luncheon meeting held by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce on December 21, 2004. I will concentrate my speech in basically three parts. First, China's implementation of its commitment. Second, the new rounds of negotiations in the WTO. Third, our cooperation with the Representative of Hong Kong in Geneva. Three years ago when China joined the WTO, people had a lot of concern and difference in feelings. At that time we had opportunities and challenges. Many people were a little worried about the prospects because of the lowering of tariffs and opening of markets, and all the commitments in the service sector. The pressure of competition really caused concern. After three years we can see that what they worried about did not happen. Over the last three years China's GDP grew about 9% on average. Also China's trade increased rapidly. It is now the third largest trading nation in the world, with total imports and exports surpassing US$1 trillion. On the whole the situation is quite satisfactory, though in the coming two or three years we shall be facing some new challenges, particularly in the fields of banking and agriculture, also the rising trend of protectionism against China's exports, particularly in textiles and clothing. This is one side of the coin.
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