Clinton Signs Normal Trade Relations for China into Law
October 10, 2000
President Clinton's Signing of Legislation Establishing Permanent Normal Trade Relations for China Marks an Historic
Moment in U.S.-China Relations.
Establishment of PNTR with China will open markets for U.S. goods and services and strengthen U.S.-China relations,
continuing to pave the way toward economic freedom for the Chinese people.
China's Accession Will Help Promote Reform in China and Create a Safer World. China's accession to the WTO will
encourage Chinese leaders to move in the direction of meeting the demands of the Chinese people for openness,
accountability, and reform. The agreement negotiated last December with China:
-- Deepens market reforms. Obligates China to deepen its market reforms, empowering leaders who want their country to
move further and faster toward economic freedom. This agreement will expose China to global competition and thereby
bring China under even more pressure to privatize its state-owned industries and expand the role of the market in the
Chinese economy. Chinese as well as foreign businessmen will gain the right to import and export on their own, and to
sell their products without going through government middlemen.
-- Accelerates removal of government from lives of China's people. Accelerates a process that is removing the government
from vast areas of China's economic life. China's people will have greater scope to live their lives as they see fit. In
opening China's telecommunications market, including to Internet and satellite services, the agreement will over time
expose the Chinese people to information, ideas and debate from around the world. As China's people become more mobile,
prosperous, and aware of alternative ways of life, they will seek greater say in the decisions that affect their lives.
-- Strengthens rule of law in China. Obliges the Chinese government to publish laws and regulations and subjects
pertinent decisions to review of an international body. That will begin to strengthen the rule of law in China and
increase the likelihood that it will play by global rules as well. It will advance our larger interest in bringing China
into international agreements and institutions that can make it a more constructive player in the world, with a stake in
preserving peace and stability.
China's Entry to the WTO Will Slash Barriers to the Sale of American Goods and Services in the World's Most Populous
Country. China's entry into the WTO will dramatically cut import barriers currently imposed on American products and
services. This agreement locks in and expands our access to a market of over one billion people. China's economy is
already among the world's largest and over the past 20 years has expanded at a phenomenal annual rate of nearly 10
percent. During this period, U.S. exports to China have grown from negligible levels to over $14 billion each year. For
agriculture alone, USDA estimates that China's WTO accession would result in $2 billion annually in additional U.S.
agricultural exports by 2005.
China Made Unilateral Concessions; We Will Simply Maintain the Market Access Policies We Already Apply to China. China
made significant, one-way market-opening concessions across virtually every economic sector, including increasing access
to its markets for agriculture, services, technology, telecommunications, and manufactured goods. China also agreed to
eliminate 'unseen' barriers, such as exclusive rights to import and distribute goods.
-- Agriculture tariffs will be cut by more than half on priority products.
-- Industrial tariffs will be slashed.
-- Right to import and distribute in China will be established.
-- New markets for U.S. information technology will be developed.
-- Broad new access for American services like telecom/insurance/banking.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)