The Tenth Anniversary of China's Accession to WTO

2011 is the 10th year for China's accession to the WTO. While harvesting the crown of the world’s second-largest economy, the largest exporter, and the second-largest importer, China continues to grow under internal and external pressures such as industrial upgrading and global trade protectionism.

The rapid growth of China's textile exports in the decade after joining the WTO is one of the fastest and best periods for China’s development. According to the data, China’s export scale and import scale have increased by 4.9 times and 4.7 times respectively over the past 10 years; foreign investment has attracted more than US$ 700 billion, and more than 480 of the world’s top 500 companies have started operations in China. During this period, China’s textile industry exports have entered a period of steady growth after experiencing a period of rapid expansion of quotas. Affected by the international financial crisis in 2008, the textile and apparel trade in the world has declined, and the growth rate of the industry’s exports has slowed down. The average annual growth rate from 2005 to 2008 is only 0.03 percentage points higher than the average annual growth rate from 2000 to 2005.

In 2010, China’s textile exports totaled 206.5 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 75.72% from the previous figure of 117.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2005, and an increase of 268.75% from the 56 billion U.S. dollars in 2000. China's textile and apparel export accounted for 32.71% of the global market, and the proportion further increased. This shows that under the new situation, the international competitive advantage of China's textile industry is not only maintained but also improved. (15% in 2000 and 24% in 2005)

Trade protection against China has gradually become a normal trend. The international trade frictions China has experienced during the past 10 years have shown rapid growth. In particular, since the outbreak of the international financial crisis, the process of economic recovery in various countries has been further divided. The macroeconomic policies of some major economies tend to strengthen their self-protection and trade protectionism is heating up. China has become the main target country for trade protectionism. From 1980 to 1989, China’s alleged anti-dumping cases accounted for 4.6% of the total number of anti-dumping cases in the world; from 1990 to 1999 it reached 13.2%; from 2000 to 2009, China’s alleged anti-dumping cases accounted for 26.3% of the total number of anti-dumping cases in the world, including 2005–2009. It is 34.7%.

Textiles and garments, as the main products for China’s foreign exchange earnings through exports, have been a major proportion of global trade relief cases since China’s accession to the WTO. According to the “2010-2015 China Chemical Fiber Industry Investment Analysis and Prospects Forecast Report” published by China Investment Advisor, 2001- In 2008, foreign countries launched a total of 55 special safeguard measures for Chinese textiles. In 2009, global trade protection cases for China's textile and apparel export products reached a record high. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Commerce, there were 45 cases related to anti-dumping of Chinese textiles and apparel in 2009. These include chemical fiber filaments, chemical fiber staple fibers, curtains, webbing, electric blankets, cord fabrics, cotton yarns, bed sheets, linens, narrow-width weaving machines, and other products from raw materials to terminals.

From the point of view of trade protection measures, they can be broadly divided into policy and technical categories. Policy-based trade protection measures are mainly based on anti-dumping and anti-dumping measures (anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, and special safeguard measures). It is in the form of laws and means to restrict other countries from entering their markets or causing complications to their related industries. In recent years, such measures have become more and more normalized and are increasingly occurring in developing countries such as India and Pakistan, which are in the same level of competition with us in the international market.

Technical trade protection measures are mostly concentrated in advanced economies such as the United States, Japan, the European Union, and Canada. Advanced economies have sound and perfect standards systems and testing agencies. In order to prevent the impact of China's textile and clothing on its market, a number of new regulations have been introduced and updated, such as REACH regulations, banned azo dyes, textile eco-label standards, OekoTex100 certification standards.

In fact, in recent years, the international trade protection of China's textile and apparel exports by countries and regions has become increasingly normal. Whether it is policy or technical trade protection measures, China's textile and garment products will face greater cost pressures and risks.

Since the beginning of this year, trade protectionism measures suffered from China's textile and apparel exports have decreased compared with the same period of last year. Judging from the current figures, the recall of China's textile and apparel export products by the EU RAPEX system and the US CPSC in the first quarter of this year decreased by 88.5% and 35.71% respectively compared with the same period of last year. At the same time, the number of anti-dumping investigations on China's textile and apparel export products across the globe has also declined from the same period of last year, reaching 62.5%.

Analyzing the reasons for the decrease in trade protection cases in the first quarter, we believe that on the one hand, China’s textile and apparel exports to the European Union and the United States have been reduced due to seasonal factors from January to February this year; on the other hand, these two recalls have been reported by the main sponsoring organizations over the same period. The number of product recalls within the scope has been significantly reduced; the third is that the EU has shifted its focus more to major export competitors such as Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Strengthening the Consciousness of Responding to Protection is the Key In the face of increasingly complex trade protection situations, China's textile and garment export enterprises should strengthen protection from three aspects:

First of all, companies should strengthen their self-protection awareness when they take orders. They must strictly examine the design plans of foreign customers in accordance with standards and related requirements, stifling safety hazards caused by unreasonable design specifications from the source, and standardizing the signing of contracts to strive to clarify the contract. Security terms.

Secondly, companies should cultivate professional talents in product design and testing, establish a strict product quality control system, and pay close attention to the development of relevant US production, sales, packaging, and other standards and directives; in the production process, strictly follow the standards. , improve product quality, and with international standards; at the same time under the conditions to build laboratories, the product's production process for effective monitoring, improve the company's self-inspection self-examination ability, some of the powerful companies can also strengthen cooperation with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission To avoid unnecessary losses.

Finally, companies should also take advantage of the strength of all sectors to actively respond. For example, companies need to know about the country's relevant policies in a timely manner, communicate more with industry associations and chambers of commerce, legal organizations, etc., and unite with their counterparts to exchange information, learn from each other, and jointly respond; at the same time, they must make rational use of the media for corporate promotion. It is good at maintaining the reputation and image of the company.