The effect on human right and poverty in China before and after they join WTO (pro) Chinese economy is one of the most rapidly developing economies in the world. The paradox of the People Republic of China is that it is one of the last communism regimes in the world with the distinctly defined market economy. The paradox of China is that the communism ideology contradicts to the basic principles of the free market. But China unlike other communism regimes ex. North Korea has chosen the market economy course. The Chinas accession to WTO is not an easy process but this process is unavoidable and will definitely bring certain benefits to the country.
First of all it will definitely change the attitude of the Chinese government which is formally the communist one towards the human rights. WTO requires transparency, non-discrimination and other issues which may become real as a result of the economic reform. These requirements will definitely cause the legal reform. The legal process and procedures for market regulations may require further liberalization of the legal base of the business. WTO will require the harmonization of the economy legislation in order to eliminate double standards for the domestic market and the foreign one. The transparency of the economy provided by the open legal base will give the world community to observe the human rights issue in China. The government of China will have to accept certain laws to provide the social stability in the country1.
This will make China revise the attitude towards human rights inside the country. China will definitely have to follow the democratic principles in its development. Last 20 years China has made tremendous movements towards a market oriented economy. The Chinese economy may be characterized as a hybrid one. The market factor as well as the state one plays an important role in the economic development of the country. There is a strong trend of the private sector expansion in the Chinese economy.
China has experienced impressive economic growth rates throughout the reform period. China’s gross domestic product (GDP) has nearly quadrupled since 1978 and now stands close to 8 trillion yuan (U.S.D. 960 billion)2. The structure of the Chinese export indicates that about 20% of GDP is formed by the export3. Chine has improved the quality of the goods exported considerably. The WTO membership will encourage further improvement of the goods quality and this will benefit the Chinese economy in general.
The standards of life of the overall citizens of China have improved considerably. This happened due to the course of the Chinese government towards the market elements of the economy. The WTO membership of China will open the markets for the Chinese business in the full measure without any restrictions. One of the most important partners of China is the United States. It is clear that the Chinese success on the American market is closely connected with the WTO accession and providing the democratic changes in the country. Ordinary people will benefit of it. Another positive factor which will influence the lives of the ordinary Chinese is that the increase of export due to Chinese membership in WTO will create additional employment in the country which will impact positively the lives of the ordinary citizens. While acknowledging that some 10 million jobs will be lost in agriculture, auto and machinery sectors, Chinese economists predict that WTO membership will create 12 million jobs in other sectors such as textiles, toys, and footwear4.
The most important reason which will improve the life of the Chinese people is that it strengthens the political forces which are targeted to the market reforms. The Chinese membership in WTO has already increased the foreign investment flow to the Chinese economy. This in its turn increased the employment in China. According to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), there are 250 million urban employees in China, 25 million of who work for foreign-funded companies. The jobs of 80 million Chinese are directly related to foreign trade. 5 The foreign investments into Chinese economy provided bringing the new machines and technologies. Foreign companies investing into China bring modern equipment to produce competitive customer targeted goods and services.
One of the most important sectors of the Chinese economy is communication. It may seem China is interested to keep it closed. According to Xinhua News Agency China has decided to open this sector for foreign investments to some extend6. This is a positive indication showing that the Chinese authorities realize that the openness of the economy will benefit the integration of the country into the global economic system. The investments into China will benefit the labor conditions of the citizens of China. The level of payment, social protection will be provided according to the standards of the countries investors. The WTO member countries want to see their partners as democratic states. Accordingly China has great opportunities for the democratization of the society. The economy of China is mighty enough to consider the country to be a good partner for the European Union.
The EU supports the Chinese reforms aimed to the further economic development and the democratization of the society. EU-China co-operation is now going beyond traditional development aid, although, in line with EU policy on global poverty reduction, the Commission will continue to bear in mind when formulating new projects that around 11% of China’s population still live in absolute poverty (i.e., those with income below the World Bank benchmark of US$1.00 per day).
In line with its 1998 and 2001 Communications (see above), the European Commission has adopted a Country Strategy Paper 2002-2006 for China, which includes a National Indicative Programme 2002-2004 that identifies three priorities for programming during the period concerned: 1. Support to Chinas economic and social reforms; 2. Environment and sustainable development; 3. Good governance and strengthening the rule of law.
Projects underway or in preparation include support for Chinas WTO membership, Information Society support, Social Security Reform and assistance to the fight against Illegal Migration.7 The WTO membership will help China integrating closely into the global market thus improving the living standards in the country. Bibliography Pitman B. Potter, Are human rights on China’s WTO agenda? Available at http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/category?c id=8340&lang=iso%2d8859%2d1, retrieved 8.05.2005 Mark A. Groombridge, Ph.D., The Case for China’s Accession to the WTO, Harvard Asia Quarterly, available at http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~asiactr/haq/200002/ind ex.htm, retrieved 10.05.2005 Xinhua News Agency December 29, 2004, WTO Membership Benefits Consumers, Workers, available at http://www.china.org.cn/english/2004/Dec/116212.ht m, retrieved 10.05.2005 EU-China Cooperation, The EU’s relations with China, available at http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/c hina/intro/index.htm, retrieved 10.05.2005 Citation Pitman B. Potter Mark A. Groombridge Ibid Ibid Xinhua News Agency Ibid..