What are the drawbacks and countermeasures of China's foreign trade?

One, the current hidden worries in China's foreign trade and its harm

1. China's development of the international market is too single

Theoretically, to develop the international market at least two ways of foreign exports and foreign direct investment, the latter due to the host country's domestic in situ production of in situ sales, and therefore easier to bypass the host country's various trade barriers. At present, China's means of developing international markets is still dominated by foreign exports. Our country this kind of thousands of horses competing over the export of a wooden bridge to open up the international market, on the one hand, will lead to vicious competition between similar enterprises in our country, in order to get in the number of foreign exports in the expansion, resulting in our country's foreign trade exports increase in volume without increasing the price of the contradiction is very prominent, and very vulnerable to dumping accusations by the importing countries. On the other hand, China's single, tree-like foreign trade strategy has made China's exports suffered more and more trade barriers, such as U.S. time on November 17, 2003, the U.S. Textile Agreement Implementation Committee made imports of knitted fabrics, corsets, gowns, three kinds of textiles from China's request for consultations on the decision to the above Chinese exports to the implementation of the quota restriction of the most stringent.

2. Technical barriers to trade seriously impede the export of China's goods

Technical barriers to trade, refers to a country or a regional organization to maintain its basic security, safeguard human, animal and plant life and health and safety, protection of the environment, prevention of fraud, to ensure product quality and so on on the grounds of the adoption of some mandatory or voluntary technical measures.

(1) more than 60% of China's export enterprises in varying degrees encountered foreign technical barriers to trade, the annual amount of goods encountered foreign technical barriers to trade has been more than 25%, about 45 billion to 50 billion U.S. dollars.

(2) has been extended from the production and circulation areas to the production and processing areas, including not only goods commodities, but also extends to the financial, information and other service areas, has become China's foreign trade enterprises face the first major non-tariff barriers. Technical barriers to trade, seriously affecting China's exports of goods, increasing China's trade costs, triggering trade disputes, resulting in regional industrial development imbalance.

3. Increased trade friction, making foreign trade risk

In recent years, China's foreign trade has realized rapid growth, in the process of transformation from a large trading country to a trading power, and made remarkable achievements. But increasing trade frictions have also hindered the development of China's foreign trade.

(1) The number of countries and regions that have filed anti-dumping lawsuits against Chinese commodities is also increasing, especially since the 1990s, many developing countries have joined in the anti-dumping investigations against China.

(1) In the first eleven months of 2007, China has encountered 62 cases of trade frictions, such as anti-dumping, countervailing, and special protection and safeguard measures, and the "two anti-dumping and two protection measures". "Trade friction 62. (2) trade friction products and industry structure is an expanding trend, as long as they believe that harm to or will jeopardize the competitiveness of their own poor products, can be included in the scope of dumped products, from the past raw materials, simple processing to the expansion of high-tech products, almost covering most of China's exports. (3) the amount involved and the anti-dumping duty rate is getting bigger and bigger, Venezuela decided in 1999 to China's leather shoes, artificial leather shoes and cloth shoes and other footwear, to take temporary measures to impose 300% anti-dumping duties; February 2004, Mexico's Ministry of Economy decided to resume imports from China's shoes and shoes and boots parts of the anti-dumping duty of 165%-1105%.

Trade friction has caused serious economic losses to China's exports, but also led to China's products in the export market is squeezed, the export of China's products have a negative impact.

4. China's foreign trade practice exists in the light of "origin" rules and "origin" rules itself is not perfect

Currently, China's exports of goods rules of origin standard is too low is a fatal flaw, the development of The reason for such low standards is to take into account the requirements of preference-giving countries in the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) agreements between China and 24 countries, as well as the need to further absorb foreign investment. If the rules of origin are too restrictive, foreigners will be affected to come to China for processing with materials, samples, drawings and compensation trade. Therefore, China determines the rules of origin of export products based on the products: produced or acquired in China; substantially transformed in China, i.e., substantially changed in shape, nature, form or use after the main and final manufacturing and processing processes in China; and value-added up to 25% or more in China.

(1) the rules of origin is not rigorous in many ways: 1) China's origin criteria is to HS tariff headings change as a material change in the standard, but in the "rules", there is no "to tariff headings change the" expression, which make the Visa personnel in the understanding and practical operation of the lack of uniform standards; 2) The main processing procedures stipulated in the "List" are relatively simple, the required value-added percentage standards are more lenient, and the tax items involved are also very incomplete; 3) The origin standards of some products in the "List" lack rationality, and are even stricter than those in the "List". The standards of origin of some products in the "List" lack rationality and are even stricter than the GSP standards of origin; we will not enumerate them here.

(2) China's export rules of origin of goods of too low a standard caused many disadvantages: 1) not conducive to expanding the processing depth of processing trade, thereby reducing the localization rate of export products; 2) due to the use of imported products used in export products is too much, not only increase the unnecessary huge foreign exchange expenditure, but also not conducive to China's raw material resources for the full development and utilization; 3) not conducive to the development of key high and new technologies; 4) not conducive to the development of the "list" of some products, even more stringent than the GSP standards of origin; not to mention. Key high-tech; 4) due to low standards, foreign investors often invest in the establishment of enterprises, engaged in China's "three to one complementary" business, applying for China's very limited "passive quota", crowded out of China's originally very limited quota, resulting in processing trade to general trade has formed a larger Trade has formed a greater impact on the general trade.

5. China's processing trade, China's domestic value chain is too short and therefore makes the low value-added commodities

(1) China's processing trade intermediate inputs of the localization of the proportion is not high, resulting in the development of its lack of strength. 2003 January-April, China's processing trade exports of 66.56 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for the same period of the total exports of 31.5%; processing trade imports of 45.61 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for the same period of the total imports of 32%; processing trade, imports of 45.6 billion U.S. dollars. In January-April 2003, China's processing trade exports amounted to US$66.56 billion, accounting for 31.5% of total exports in the same period; processing trade imports amounted to US$45.61 billion, accounting for 32.7% of total imports in the same period. This shows that China's processing trade is still in the typical simple processing or assembly-type development stage, processing trade, the domestic industry chain is short, production capacity is concentrated in the downstream industries, parts and raw materials are overly dependent on imports, with the rise in China's labor costs, will gradually lose the momentum of development. According to the Shenzhen Comprehensive Development Research Institute's survey, Guangdong Province, the electronics industry from the early reform and opening up in the country in the same industry ranked 8th in 1991 jumped to the country's fifth, more than a decade of rapid development is mainly dependent on Hong Kong and Macao processing and assembly industry transfers, but Guangdong's current advantage is only embodied in the total number of final products, and does not have the advantage of the production technology, product design, materials, parts and components production and sales are heavily dependent on Hong Kong and overseas, China's other coastal areas. Dependent on Hong Kong and overseas, China's other coastal areas using the processing trade to develop industries, also varying degrees of similar problems.

(2) The value-added rate of China's processing trade is extremely low, resulting in a large amount of profit outflow. In the entire processing trade in research and development, design, manufacturing, warehousing, transportation, sales, services and other aspects of the value chain, China's enterprises are often responsible for parts or raw and auxiliary materials for primary processing, assembly and assembly and other labor-intensive links, occupies the value chain links less, resulting in the improvement of the added value of the product is extremely unsatisfactory. According to statistics, in the processing of incoming materials, our enterprises can only obtain an average of about 8% of the total exports of the work of the fee income, the rest of the value-added part of a large number of products by the foreign side to obtain; and in the processing trade mode, due to the foreign side to control the procurement of raw materials and sales of finished products and other key links, to facilitate the use of transfer pricing and other means of making our enterprises a serious loss of profits.

6. China's foreign trade is subject to strict government control, and the degree of freedom of import and export

(1). Domestic enterprises must obtain government approval to export their products, and most manufacturers cannot directly enter the international market to export their products.

While China's traditional trade system is constantly reformed, such as giving a number of production enterprises import and export rights, but only a few state-owned large and medium-sized enterprises (including a few scientific research institutions) to obtain the right to import and export rights, and its import and export rights are still subject to a long time constraints, the scope of business is strictly limited, with import and export rights of the production enterprises can not really be truly The production enterprises with import and export self-supporting rights can not really operate import and export business in full autonomy. In addition, although China also allows private enterprises to obtain the right of import and export self-support, the entry threshold is very high and the number is extremely limited. In short, the right to operate foreign trade in China is still controlled by the state. (Note: the government's control of the right to operate foreign trade is actually a kind of non-tariff barrier.) Only a small number of production enterprises have the right to be able to directly engage in import and export trade activities, and most enterprises do not directly enter the international market to export their products. These enterprises that do not have the right to import and export on their own have to export their products through the agency of state-owned foreign trade companies. This means that, for the majority of production enterprises without the right to import and export, they do not have direct access to the international market to freely engage in import and export trade activities, and thus with the international market there is still a "compartmentalization" in practice.

Since the foreign trade operation right by the government administrative approval, which production enterprises can enter the international market by the government to designate, therefore, in the absence of market competition and screening, elimination mechanism, can directly enter the international market to engage in import and export business enterprise is not necessarily the most efficient enterprises, which will inevitably lead to the inefficiency of foreign trade. At the same time, because most of the domestic production enterprises can not directly enter the international market to freely engage in import and export trade activities, therefore, many domestic production enterprises will not be able to completely free and flexible according to the supply and demand situation in the domestic and foreign markets, timely production of products that fully meet the needs of the international market, so as to maximize the expansion of China's exports, which artificially suppressed the elasticity of supply of China's exports.

More importantly, since China's private enterprises are not free to engage in import and export trade activities without the government's approval, this is not conducive to the emergence of China's continuous more fully self-financing, and therefore have the real intrinsic motivation and pressure to continue to expand exports on the basis of comparative advantage of the market, thus greatly impeding the per capita growth of China's exports. It can be seen that the export restrictions on the private sector is actually an artificial restriction on China's export expansion capacity.

In addition, although China's foreign trade companies monopolize China's import and export under the protection of the government, China's state-owned foreign trade companies lack competitiveness in the international market due to their small scale. Moreover, because these state-owned foreign trade enterprises do not bear the ultimate property responsibility for operating losses, therefore, the state-owned foreign trade enterprises in order to expand exports, and often irresponsibly raise the price of acquisition internally, and low bidding externally. State-owned foreign trade enterprises with each other this no inherent constraints on the disorderly competition, not only caused by the export order chaos, and increased the cost of China's exports in exchange for foreign currencies, reducing the country's trade profits.

(2). China's imports in the existence of de facto government control, import marketization or liberalization is even lower

While China has been reducing tariffs since 1992, but China's policy intention to reduce tariffs is actually focusing on alleviating China's excessive balance of payments surplus, and at the same time to expand the imports of capital goods or technology and equipment (more than 80% of China's imports of capital goods), in order to improve the productivity of domestic enterprises, rather than to improve the productivity of China's exports, rather than to improve the efficiency of China's trade. The policy intention is actually focused on alleviating China's excessive balance of payments surplus while expanding imports of capital goods or technological equipment (more than 80 percent of China's imports are capital goods) to increase the productivity of domestic firms, rather than on liberalizing imports in order to introduce competition in the international market. Moreover, although China has continued to cut non-tariff barriers, in practice it still has quantitative restrictions under different names on some imported goods that have been eliminated from quota and license management, and some investment projects that require imported goods need prior approval from the government for the establishment of the project or policy guidance from government departments. At the same time, China also has some de facto controls on import procedures (e.g., the need for stamps of approval from several government departments, overly cumbersome import procedures, etc.). In addition, while the government imposes strict controls on imports, China still has a state monopoly on the import of many products, and this import monopoly is actually a non-tariff barrier.

China's control of imports, although to a certain extent to protect certain domestic industries or enterprises (especially to protect the state-owned enterprises), but because of the weakening of the competitive pressure of imported products, and at the same time so that the domestic enterprises do not have access to low-cost production inputs, thereby reducing the productivity of domestic enterprises.

Two, eliminate China's foreign trade in the existing hidden worry countermeasures

1. Effective implementation of the "going out" strategy

(1) clear implementation of the "going out" strategy of the main body. The so-called "going out", including both products to enter the international market, including the export of capital, but mainly the export of capital, that is, to invest in foreign factories. At present, through the deepening reform of state-owned enterprises, especially in recent years, most of China's state-owned enterprises and township collective enterprises have been detached from the government's embrace, become an independent market competition and legal entities, in the implementation of the "going out" strategy, should undoubtedly become the main body of the process. Governments at all levels must correct their position, in the macro-control, service, supervision and other aspects of more effort, must not overstep their role, instead of business decision-making.

(2) scientifically determine the specific way of "going out". China's enterprises to go out roughly the following types: 1) overseas direct investment. At present, in addition to resource development projects of large scale, the vast majority of China's foreign investment projects are small and medium-sized projects, the average size of the enterprise is 1.98 million U.S. dollars. 2) Foreign contracted projects and design and consulting. Foreign contracting is a comprehensive carrier of commodity trade, technology trade and service trade, but also China's enterprises "go out" more mature way to play China's enterprises with a comprehensive industrial base, equipment manufacturing technology is mature, rich labor resources and low management costs of the integrated advantages; 3) foreign labor cooperation. China's foreign labor cooperation in the main market is concentrated in developing countries, of which 3 / 4 to Asian countries, laborers are still construction workers, sewing workers and other low and medium-level labor.

"Going out" as a long-term opening-up strategy, must be implemented in a planned and step-by-step manner. At the micro level, should formulate specific enterprise development strategy and market development strategy, to solve the "go out" of the regional and industrial choice. 1) For resource development projects, should be based mainly in Africa, Latin America, Central Asia and other friendly countries, focusing on investment in the construction of these countries in urgent need of energy, minerals, and other strategic resources and people's life necessary agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries. 2) For overseas production projects, the focus should be placed on Southeast Asia, South Africa, North Africa, Latin America, Europe and the United States and other countries with a better economic environment, with less investment, quick results in overseas processing trade projects, guide enterprises to transfer excess production capacity and mature technology. 3) For international contracting, should be based on the traditional Asian, African and Middle East markets, and strive to increase the market share. market share. At the same time, take advantage of the favorable opportunities brought about by WTO accession to increase the development of the market in Europe, America, Oceania and Latin America, and strive for a breakthrough; strengthen the training of labor personnel, improve the quality of labor personnel, ensure the original market in the global labor market downturn, and strive to expand the scale of expatriate labor; Macro-level to give full play to the government's functions of macro-control. The government should formulate various preferential policies in terms of financial and insurance services, taxation, foreign exchange management, etc., to encourage, support and guide enterprises to "go out"; do a good job in releasing information and consulting on the international market and the country's situation in order to meet the information needs of domestic enterprises in various aspects; formulate relevant laws and regulations to standardize, legalize and scientificize the management of enterprises investing abroad. Standardize, legalize, scientific, to prevent a rush, in foreign countries to engage in duplication of construction, disorderly competition, killing each other.

(3) Scientific selection of "going out" location. "Going out" should implement the policy of diversification, facing the global market, can not engage in a single. On the other hand, it must be seen, "going out" of the focus of the region should be Asia, Africa, Latin America, developing countries and Eastern Europe, the CIS countries in economic transition. Because from the overall level of China's economic development, whether it is the level of equipment, production technology, or product quality, compared with developed countries in Europe and the United States, there is a large gap, but compared with developing countries, there are certain advantages. And there is no comparative advantage, is "where to go" the most important basis for judgment.

2. Government enterprises **** with the prevention and avoidance of trade barriers, reduce losses

(1) Government. ①Establish an early warning mechanism to realize foreign trade protection front. The relevant government departments should closely track the situation of key export countries and regions, to maintain a high degree of sensitivity to information in order to keep abreast of the movement of a trade barrier, regularly or irregularly released early warning information to remind the relevant enterprises to make timely and appropriate preparations. ② development of preferential measures, the development of circular economy, support the development of "green" enterprises. The government should adopt preferential policies to support a number of green enterprises in line with international standards, advanced management, high technology content, while eliminating a number of small-scale, low-grade, low management level, poor environmental awareness. (iii) Implement the standardization strategy and formulate national standards and technical regulations that are consistent with international standards. Encouragement policies should be formulated to unify and improve China's technical standards, so that national standards, industry standards and international standards, and in accordance with the need to introduce these international standards into our country, so that production enterprises in the mastery of international standards on the basis of the arrangement of production, so as to make products in line with the requirements of the importing country, which is to expand the export trade, accelerate the development of foreign trade are more helpful. (4) Relevant government departments should serve and help enterprises to develop other markets and avoid trade risks. Enterprises can also through labor export, technology export, overseas investment and other ways, local production, processing in consumer countries, so that the "sales place" into "origin", to avoid trade barriers.

(2) Enterprise. ①Enterprises should strengthen the awareness of standardization, the use of reasonable and applicable international standards, strict implementation of standards, and ISO9000, ISO14000 and other management standards and the actual situation of the enterprise to create their own management methods, from the system to ensure the quality of the product quality and environmental quality, so that the enterprise is in a favourable position to compete in the international market. ② Enterprises should focus on supporting and cultivating the export of goods with independent intellectual property rights and independent brands, and improve the added value of export commodities. Improve the product and the inspection and testing capacity of the product in order to fundamentally break through the current technical barriers to trade. ③ Enterprises should invest in research and development costs, the production of advanced products in line with foreign technical standards, especially harsh requirements, but also consciously enhance the awareness of environmental protection, and strive to make their products become "green products" to prevent and avoid the occurrence of trade disputes. When trade disputes occur, through the government's negotiations, efforts to make foreign governments to cancel their technical barriers to trade, to minimize the loss of business interests.

3. The government improves the coping mechanism to reduce trade friction

(1) Government side. ①China's government fully utilizes the WTO trade dispute settlement mechanism and strengthens its dealings with foreign countries. The government should fully invoke the provisions of the WTO anti-dumping agreement, conduct rigorous investigations into the anti-dumping measures and investigation procedures proposed by other countries against China, and raise objections, through bilateral and multilateral negotiations, document the practice made in anti-dumping response to further clarify the relevant issues, and argue on the basis of reasoning to urge the relevant countries to revise the criteria for recognizing China's market economy system, and ultimately abolish the discriminatory anti-dumping policy measures against China. ② Establish and improve anti-dumping policies and measures. ② Establish and improve the mechanism for responding to anti-dumping complaints, and improve the network of China's anti-dumping early warning mechanism. ③ Strengthening the regulation of the order of export competition, setting up a reasonable, effective export management mechanism, the establishment and implementation of key industries and key products of the export system, is an effective measure to reduce anti-dumping complaints against China.

(2) Enterprise side. ①Enterprises should adjust their strategies and implement internationalized operation. ② to continuously optimize the structure of export commodities, increase investment in science and technology, continuous research and development of new products, improve the scientific and technological production of products, establish brand awareness, the implementation of brand-name strategy to achieve the export of labor-intensive products to the capital, technology-intensive products and price to win the strategic change. ③ Enterprises in the process of anti-dumping, should be familiar with international practice, in accordance with the law to deal with anti-dumping, so that they are from passive to active.

4. Improve China's rules of origin

(1) the development of reasonable, scientific and applicable rules of origin

According to the actual situation of China's international trade in the development of scientific and appropriate rules of origin standards, such as value-added percentage of the determination of the actual situation of China's foreign trade should be combined with the development of a reasonable proportion of the standard. At the same time, the origin judgment standard should not be too low, especially the export of goods origin judgment standard is more so. Rules of origin should be operable and technically rigorous, while having appropriate flexibility.

(2) rules of origin should be widely applicable

The formulation of rules of origin should be given full consideration in the widest possible scope of application, in particular, to take into account the importance of rules of origin for the implementation of China's foreign trade policy. In China's rules of origin, should include the implementation of the "Chinese people's *** and the State anti-dumping and countervailing regulations" required by the origin judgment criteria, as well as for anti-dumping, countervailing in the circumvention measures of the rules of origin; should be formulated under the conditions of preferential tariffs on imports of the rules of origin applicable to the rules of origin, especially re-imported, re-exported products of the rules of origin; on the implementation of the quota, the licensing management of the product to determine the special origin judgment criteria, improve the utilization rate of quotas, and set reasonable origin judgment criteria for export commodities enjoying GSP treatment.

(3) to strengthen the management of the certificate of origin issued

China has a number of units can issue certificates of origin, which gives China's management of the certificate of origin issued by the management of the difficulties, and various organizations for the certificate of origin issued by the standards of the yardstick of the management of the management of a lot of trouble. At present, there are more than 200 units issuing certificates of origin, more than 600,000 issued each year, each certificate charges 50 yuan handling fee, there are individual issuing unit, only stamp charges, not check whether the contract products in line with the rules of origin, but also does not supervise the goods. The emergence of such a situation is undoubtedly not conducive to the correct implementation of China's rules of origin, but also affect the trade relations between China and some countries, and therefore should be strengthened on the issuance of certificates of origin management.

5. Extend the domestic value chain of China's processing trade by increasing the localization rate of processing trade materials

From the analysis of the profit maximization goal of multinational corporations, the processing trade enterprises hope to reduce the cost and improve the competitiveness of their products in the international market through the local procurement of materials. At this stage, there are some foreign-funded enterprises trying to transfer the procurement of parts and components to China domestically. Therefore, to improve the localization rate of processing trade intermediate inputs and expand the export of China's domestic material parts, it is necessary to adjust the relevant policies in the following aspects.

(1) Determine a scientific industrial policy. China's upstream industries, including machinery, electronics, chemicals and other basic industries, for a long time, the lagging problem of the production development of these industries has not been resolved, and the country's prices, investment, taxation, loans and other policies are almost all tilted to the downstream industries. Therefore, not fundamentally reverse the current policy on processing trade intermediate inputs, it is difficult to realize the processing trade intermediate inputs import substitution.

(2) Support from the financial aspect. In order to make domestic enterprises to produce materials and parts in the quality, specifications and cost to adapt to the requirements of processing trade exports, the state should provide funds to foster domestic enterprises to develop, trial production of new products or to provide users with trial products. The relevant departments may consider to encourage the localization of processing trade by setting up a separate fund in the new product trial production fee, new product development fee and foreign trade development fund, and simplify the application and approval procedures. At the same time, the state should encourage the establishment of private "risk financing" mechanism, such as through tax reform, encouraging enterprises to set up a "risk fund", investment in new product development and trial production projects with high risk.

(3) Encouragement of processing, processing enterprises to carry out domestic procurement. On the one hand, because most of the products of China's domestic incoming processing enterprises will enter the international market, for its domestic parts and components suppliers belong to the indirect export, so this part of the product can be export tax rebate, in order to reduce the cost of domestic procurement of incoming processing enterprises, incentivize the incoming processing enterprises to expand the domestic procurement from the economic point of view; on the other hand, in view of China's current export tax rebate mechanism operates less efficiently, for the On the other hand, in view of the low operating efficiency of China's current export tax rebate mechanism, the implementation of tax "exemptions, credits and refunds" for the deep processing of processing enterprises will squeeze a large amount of funds, which seriously weakened the incentives of the export tax rebate system, and therefore can be carried out on the deep processing of processing enterprises to exempt the goods from the preferential policies of the relevant tax.

(4) Establishment of demand information base. Establish an information base on the supply and demand of intermediate inputs in areas where processing trade enterprises are more concentrated. Because enterprises do not know enough about the importance of information, and the investment in information collection and updating is large and the investment risk is high, the state should implement supportive policies. Processing trade for alternative products can choose to establish a professional information base and information network, timely publication of product quality standards, specifications, prices and supply channels.