DATE=11/16/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA / W-T-O (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-256214
BYLINE=STEPHANIE HO
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Authorities in China are trying hard to sell the
Chinese public on the idea that membership in the World
Trade Organization is a good thing. V-O-A's Stephanie Ho
reports this comes one day after U-S and Chinese negotiators
concluded an historic agreement that paves the way for
China's entry into the global trade body.
TEXT: When Chinese Foreign Trade Minister Shi Guangsheng
signed a landmark agreement with U-S Trade Representative
Charlene Barshefsky Monday, he emphasized its positive
effect on bilateral relations.
On Tuesday, though, attention turned to how the W-T-O will
play to the domestic audience. W-T-O membership is a goal
Beijing sought for 13 years to attain. Now that China is
close to reaching that goal, the government wants to
convince the Chinese people the battle has been worth it.
State-run papers splashed news of the agreement across their
front pages. Photos showed a smiling Chinese President
Jiang Zemin shaking hands with Ms. Barshefsky and White
House economic adviser Gene Sperling.
Headlines declared that the clouds had cleared for China's
entry into the W-T-O. But the stories were aimed at
allaying fears that foreign competition brought by W-T-O
membership would destroy jobs, by pushing already teetering
state enterprises over the edge.
One example came in the popular newspaper, Beijing Youth
Daily. It warned readers that Japan's economy suffered
painful adjustments after Tokyo joined the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade, W-T-O's predecessor, in 1955. But the
newspaper added that the Japanese economy doubled in size
over the next decade and said W-T-O entry would provide a
turning point for Chinese enterprises.
The China Market Economic News acknowledged that
unemployment pressure is widespread, but said it is not
necessarily a bad thing. It tried to persuade people that
solving unemployment is not the sole responsibility of the
government.
For many ordinary Chinese, though, a steady job is the most
important concern. Experts say Chinese companies will have
a hard time coping initially with foreign competition. They
say as the unemployment rate in China increases, so does the
possibility of social unrest.
A Ministry of Labor survey of three thousand enterprises --
published by the Chinese paper, Homeway Financial News
(Hexun Caijing) in late October -- showed there is no sign
layoffs are slowing.
Official statistics put the number of people unemployed from
state companies at nearly seven-and-a-half million. The
Homeway article estimates that as many as seven million more
people could be laid-off this year, swelling China's jobless
ranks to more than 14 million.
Meanwhile, a report by the state-run Xinhua News Agency says
that by the end of September, almost 95-million Chinese
workers had registered with the government's unemployment
insurance system. (Signed)
NEB/HO/KL
16-Nov-1999 07:48 AM EDT (16-Nov-1999 1248 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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