When some western countries began to pin their hope of economic recovery on trade protectionism, China and the 10 ASEAN countries are immersed in the delight of embracing a free trade area which will allow goods to flow across borders freely.
The free trade area has undoubtedly become a central theme of the five-day China-ASEAN Expo, held from Oct. 20 to 24 in Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. State leaders, high-ranking officials and businessmen all applauded free trade while scolding trade restrictive measures.
Out of the 4,000 booths at the expo, the ten countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) occupied 1,168, a record high since the first expo in 2004.
What's special of this year's expo was that attendees also included enterprises from nations beyond the China-ASEAN region, such as the United States, France, Italy and enterprises from Hungary and Madagascar that exhibited for the first time at the expo, desiring opportunities for trade and investment cooperation.
These facts showed the common pursuit of these enterprises as well as officials from China and ASEAN at the expo -- "trust, cooperation and free trade".
The upcoming China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) is obviously a significant event attracting worldwide attention.
The CAFTA, due for operation on Jan. 1, 2010, will cover a population of 1.9 billion and conduct zero-tariff policy on 90 percent of the products traded between China and ASEAN.
For better exchanges, custom authorities of both sides reached agreement at the expo to actively reduce trade barriers and boost trade facilitation to build closer economic ties amid the lingering global economic crisis.
Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang said at the opening of the expo on Tuesday that the completion of the FTA would be a milestone for regional economic integration and a new starting point for bilateral relationship.
It demonstrated the efforts and resolution of China and ASEAN to promote trade and investment, and resist protectionism in any form, he said.
China and ASEAN vow to push forward free trade to help each other buoy economic growth, while some western developed countries adopt protectionist measures against products from mainly developing countries when cooperation is in desperate need to stabilize the world economy.
Such measures will stymie the hard-won world economic recovery from a slump, helped by huge amount of money pooled into the economy.
The financial crisis originated in the United States in September of last year not only dragged the world economy into recession, but also undermined market confidence and credit systems. Protectionist measures employed by some nations further extended the credit crisis across the globe.
China was one of the victims as the European Union, Argentina, Brazil started anti-dumping and anti-countervailing investigations against Chinese products, following the United States that decided to levy high tariffs on tires and steel pipes from China.
Such measures were implemented in the name of protecting their domestic businesses and employment. However, taking protectionist measures has been proven to be short-sighted and destructive, which would not only hurt their own economies but also depress the world economy.
For example, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act adopted by the U.S. government in 1930 raised U.S. tariffs to historically high levels, which reduced the world trade then by about two-thirds.
Now, as globalization pushed forward ties among economies, any policy or measure taken by one economy would have an impact on others. One country's protectionist measures would result in chain effect and trigger retaliatory policies, which would create a vicious circle and stifle world trade and jeopardise international relationship.
A report from the World Trade Organization issued in September said the main risk was that G20 members would continue to bow to protectionist pressures, even if only gradually, particularly as unemployment continued to rise.
The world economic order is going through reform but cooperation is always the path to mutual benefits.
Poh Choon Ann, deputy president of Singapore Manufacturers' Federation,criticized protectionist measures at the Expo that it was "sad" that western developed countries pursued protectionist measures while claiming themselves advocate of free trade.
"Even if you win today, you will lose the whole world tomorrow," he said. |
