Blueprint for trade stability

BEIJING, April 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Beijing Review has recently published a government white paper titled China's Position on Some Issues Concerning China-US Economic and Trade Relations. While outlining China's vision for resolving tariff disputes through dialogue, the document highlights China's commitment to free trade. Edited excerpts follow:

Since joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, China has played an active role in economic globalization, launching a new phase in its reform and opening-up efforts. Committed to the principle of free trade, China has made its trade policies more stable, transparent, and predictable, substantially opened its markets, and made a positive contribution to upholding the effectiveness and authority of the multilateral trading system.

China has comprehensively strengthened trade policy compliance. Following its accession, China launched major efforts to review and revise over 2,300 laws, regulations and departmental rules at central government level, and over 190,000 local regulations at sub-central government levels. These efforts spanned key areas such as trade, investment, and intellectual property protection, among others.

Upon acceding to the WTO, China made extensive and substantial tariff reduction commitments. The Chinese government has honored its commitments, and all the tariff reduction commitments for goods were fulfilled by 2010. The overall tariff level was reduced from 15.3 percent in 2001 to 9.8 percent. In July 2023, with the eighth reduction in tariffs on products under the expanded Information Technology Agreement, China's overall tariff level saw a further drop to 7.3 percent. In 2024, China further announced that it would grant zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent tariff lines to all the least developed countries that have diplomatic relations with China.

China is committed to establishing and improving a fiscal subsidy system in line with international practice, and promoting the transformation of industrial policies from differentiated and selective to inclusive and functional. The Chinese government prioritizes market-oriented and indirect guiding measures, such as public services, technical standards, and skills training to support areas of market failure, including technological research and innovation, the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, green energy efficiency, and the establishment of public service systems.

The Chinese government has aligned itself with international rules through a series of systematic reforms and progressively optimized the business environment, providing a more transparent, fair, and predictable environment for global enterprises.

China has continued to improve the business environment. In July 2017, the negative list management system for foreign investment was implemented nationwide. From 2017 to 2024, China reduced the number of items on the national negative list for foreign investment from 93 to 29, and all restrictions on foreign investment in the manufacturing sector were lifted.

In 2022, China released the Guideline on Accelerating the Construction of a Unified National Market, explicitly requiring the comprehensive removal of preferential policies that discriminate against foreign-funded enterprises and enterprises from other regions, as well as those that enforce local protectionism. In June 2024, the State Council released the Regulations on Fair Competition Review, stipulating that policy measures shall not contain provisions affecting production and operational costs without prior authorization, which includes the prohibition of granting to specific operators tax preferences, special fiscal rewards or subsidies, or preferential treatment in terms of factor acquisition, administrative and public service charges, government-managed funds, and social insurance fees.

China treats domestic and foreign-funded enterprises equally in taxation. In recent years, China has implemented orderly reforms of its tax system. It has optimized the tax structure and accelerated the implementation of the principle of statutory taxation, with the aim of capitalizing on taxation's crucial role in boosting high-quality development and promoting social fairness and justice.

China is actively promoting the development of digital trade. China has established 12 national digital service export bases nationwide, and introduced policies and measures to support the innovative development of these bases. Since 2015, China has set up 165 cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones in 31 provincial-level administrative units, achieving integrated development of industrial digitalization and trade digitalization. In addition, China upholds law-based cyberspace governance and welcomes international internet companies to develop in China, provided they comply with China's laws and regulations and offer secure, reliable products and services.

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SOURCE Beijing Review