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ForChina,aftermorethan30yearsofmarket-orientedreformsandadecadeofWTOmembership,thefightforstatusasamarketeconomyhasstillbeenatoughbrawl.
Overthepastthreedecades,Chinahasimpressedtheworldwithsignificantprogressinmarket-orientedreforms.Sofar,97WTOmembershavegrantedChinamarketeconomystatus.
Butitsmajortradepartners,suchastheEuropeanUnion（EU）,theUnitedStates,JapanandIndia,arestillhesitanttofollowsuit.
It’sreallyamatteroftimebeforeChinawinsthestatus.BasedonWTOrules,China’sfullmarketeconomystatuswillautomaticallyberecognizedby2016.Earlyrecognitionwouldprovidereliefforthecountry’sexportersreelingfromgrowingtradedisputes.
“WesterncountrieshavebeenusingthemarketeconomystatustopracticetradeprotectionismagainstChina,”saidSongHong,aresearcherfromtheInstituteofWorldEconomicsandPoliticsundertheChineseAcademyofSocialSciences（CASS）.
Chinahasbeentheworld’sbiggesttargetofanti-dumpingmeasuresforthepast16years.In2010,Chinaunderwent23antidumpingprobes,makingup33percentoftheworld’stotal,accordingtodatafromtheMinistryofCommerce.
Dumpingisdeterminedinoneoftwoways:
Eitheracommodityissoldabroadatapricelowerthanthepriceathomeorlowerthanitsproductioncosts.
SinceChinahasnotbeenconsideredamarketeconomybyWesterncountries,thecostsinChinesemarketsareregardedasunreliableandarethereforenotusedforcalculatingdumpingmargins.
Instead,Westerncountriesselectthepricesofasubstitutecountry―oftenwithmuchhigherproductioncoststhanChina,makingChinesecompaniesvulnerabletoantidumpingandanti-subsidyinvestigations.
“ThelowpricesthatChineseexporterschargereflecttruemarketconditionsinlowcostChina,anddonotresultfromsubsidiesandotherdistortionstypicalofacommandeconomy,”saidSong.
Theso-calledtechnicalcriteriaofWesterncountrieshavebeenanobstacleforChina,saidChina’sViceForeignMinisterFuYing.
Strictlyspeaking,severalothercountriesthattheEUhasrecognizedasmarketeconomies,evensomeEUmembers,havefailedtofullymeetthesecriteria,saidFu.
TheEUshouldtreatChinafairlyonthemarketeconomystatusissue,shesaid.
“TheUnitedStatesusesChina’smarketeconomystatusasabargainingchiptopressChinatocompromiseonissuessuchastheyuanexchangerateagainsttheU.S.dollarandU.S.Treasurysecurities,”saidHeWeiwen,anexecutivedirectoroftheChinaSocietyforWTOStudies.
TheUnitedStatesin2002recognizedRussiaasamarketeconomy,thoughitstillhasnotobtainedWTOmembership,hesaid.
Accordingtothe2011IndexofEconomicFreedomcompiledbytheHeritageFoundation,ChinarankedwellaheadofRussia.
“TheconfusingmarketeconomystatusstandardsofWesterncountrieshavecauseddisruptionstoChina’sforeigntrade,”saidMeiXinyu,anassociateresearchfellowwiththeChineseAcademyofInternationalTradeandEconomicCooperation.
“WhethertheEUgrantsChinamarketeconomystatusismoreanissueofpoliticalattitudethanofsubstantialsignificanceforeitherside,”Meisaid.
ZhangYansheng,aresearcheroftheAcademyofMacroeconomicResearchundertheNationalDevelopmentandReformCommission,saidnocountrytodaycouldbedefinedasapuremarketeconomy.
“ButiftheEUandtheUnitedStatescanrecognizeChinaasamarketeconomyaheadofthe2016deadline,itwouldhelppropeltheirclosercooperationintradeandinvestmentwithChina,”Zhangsaid.
China’sstrides
Amarketeconomyischaracterizedbyfreemarketswheresupplyanddemanddeterminetheallocationofresourcesandthepricesofgoodsandservices.Bycontrast,inanonmarketeconomy,thegovernmentdecideswhattoproduce,thequantityandtheprices.
BoththeUnitedStatesandtheEUpointedtogovernmentinterventionandlegacyofacommandeconomyasamajorreasonfornotrecognizingChina’smarketeconomystatus.
TheU.S.DepartmentofCommercesaidtheChineseGovernmentremainsdeeplyentrenchedinresourceallocationatalllevels.Thegovernment’scontinuedroleintheallocationoffinancialresourcesindicatesthatitexertssignificantleverageovertheallocationofresourcesintheeconomyasawhole.
TheEuropeanCommissionalsosaidinareportin2008thatthecriteriaChinahasyettomeetincludelessprogressinreducingthestate’sroleinprice-settinginsectorslikeenergy.
ChenDeming,MinisterofCommerce,saidChinaandtheWesthavedifferentunderstandingsonmacroeconomiccontrolsovertheirmarketeconomiesbecausetheyareatdifferentstagesofdevelopmentandhavedifferentconditions.
ButapersistentdeclineinstatecontrolandadecreaseintheuseofmandatoryplanningmechanismshavereallyhappenedintheChineseeconomy.
In2008,China’sgovernmentrevenuesaccountedfor21.8percentoftheGDP,comparedwith26.9percentoftheworld’saverage,accordingtoAReportontheDevelopmentofChina’sMarketEconomy2010publishedbytheSchoolofEconomicsandResourceManagementatBeijingNormalUniversity.
Theonce-dominantstate-ownedsectorisshrinkinginrelativetermsandthegrowingprivatesectorisbecomingincreasinglyproductiveandprofitable.Privatecompanieshaveplayedadominantroleintelecomequipment,homeappliances,miningandothersectors.
“PrivatebusinessesnowmakeupmorethanhalfoftheChineseeconomy,andprovideatleast70percentofjobs,”saidHuangMengfu,ChairmanoftheAll-ChinaFederationofIndustryandCommerce.
Businessvitalityhasalsobeenstimulatedbytransforminginefficientstate-ownedenterprises（SOEs）intoshare-holdingcompanies.Dataofthereportshowed988ofthe1,293largeSOEs,or77percent,hadbeenrestructuredintocorporateenterpriseswithmultipleshareholdersby2008.
Corporategovernancewasfurtherimprovedthroughfourmajormechanisms:
boardofdirectors,executivecompensation,ownershipstructureandfinancialtransparency.In2008,amongthe988restructuredlargeSOEs,91.52percenthadestablishedshareholders’meetings,95.34percentsetupaboardofdirectorsand80.87percenthadtheboardofsupervisors.
Thesereformswereaccompaniedbyanunprecedentedopeningtotheoutsideworldinsearchofexportmarketsandnecessaryforeigninvestments,technologyandmanagementknow-how.
AspartofChina’sWTOcommitment,thecountryallowedforeigninvestorsintoaseriesofformerlystate-controlledareas,suchasfinance,banking,insurance,securitiesandhealthcare.
Thesocietyhasbecomemorefluidanddynamicthaneverbefore,featuringgreatersocialandgeographicalmobilityandhorizontalintegration.Workersaregaininggrowingrightswithrespecttocompensationandchoiceofemployment.Newspapersareusuallyfilledwithreportsthatmanufacturersineastcoastalregionsarefindingitdifficulttohireenoughemployeesasworkersdemandhighersalaries.
ZhuangJian,chiefChinaeconomistwiththeAsianDevelopmentBank,saidChinahaslargelybecomeamarketeconomywithpricingofmostproductsinthehandsofthemarket.
“SincejoiningtheWTO,thecountryhasalsodrasticallyreducedimporttariffs,liberalizedforeigntrade,whiletakingsolidstepstotightencorporatelaws,improveitsinvestmentenvironmentandprotectintellectualpropertyrights（IPRs）,”hesaid.
XuHongcai,aneconomistwiththeChinaCenterforInternationalEconomicExchanges,saidWesterncountriesshouldtakeaccountofChina’saccomplishmentsin
marketopennessandshouldnotgiveunreasonablecriticism.
ThediscriminationwouldonlydealaheavyblowtotheirtradewithChina,headded.
Thewayahead
DespitetheprogressChinahasmadeinmarket-orientedreforms,itcertainlyhasroomforimprovement.
“China’smarketreformsarestillfarfromover,”saidFanGang,DirectoroftheNationalEconomicResearchInstitute.“Tobuildamodernmarketeconomy,Chinastillneedstofurtheropenupitsfinancialindustry,repairthesocialsafetynet,andestablishtheruleoflaw.”
“Learninglessonsfromthe2008financialcrisis,Chinashouldalsostrengthenmarketsupervisionandmacroeconomiccontrolstoavoidmarketimbalance,”headded.
“Thecountryshouldmakestiffeffortstodeepenreforminaseriesofstatemonopolizedsectorslikeenergyandtelecommunicationsandfosterfaircompetition,”saidZhuang.
Effortsareinfactalreadyunderway.Forexample,thegovernmentinearly2009decidedtoadjustretailfuelpriceswhenworldcrudeoilpriceschangedbymorethan4percentover22straightworkingdays.Thiswasaremarkablebreakfromamoreorlessrigidpricingschemetowhichthegovernmentmakesirregularandinfrequentchanges.
Meanwhile,highlyconcentratedshareholdingsremainahindrancetotheimprovementofcorporategovernance.TheCASSconductedasurveyofthetop100listedChinesecompaniesin2010,andfoundmostofthemdeliveredimprovedperformanceininformationdisclosure,riskcontrolandassetmanagement.But71percentofthemhadtheirfivelargestshareholdersholdingmorethanhalfoftheirassets,slightlylowerthanthatof77percentin2009.
“Suchashareholdingstructuremakesitdifficulttosafeguardinterestsofsmallerinvestors,andmayeasilydetermergersandacquisitions（M&As）,”saidZhangZhengjun,aresearcherattheDevelopmentResearchCenteroftheStateCouncil.
“OnesolutionistopropelshareholdingdiversificationofSOEs,suchasintroducingstrategicinvestors.”addedZhang.
FengBing,ExecutiveDeputyDirectoroftheChinaEnterpriseConfederation,pointedou
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