To counter the rise in unfair competition, China is speeding up the establishment of a national imports and exports early warning system.  

 

The Ministry of Commerce announced yesterday that it will expand its industry security database, which currently covers automobiles, fertilizers, steel, textiles, machine tools and electronic information products, to four more sectors, namely petrol and petrochemicals, machinery, building materials and light industry.

 

Monitoring indicators will be expanded from the current 27 to 142, including data from companies, key industries and macroeconomic statistics, according to Gao Hucheng, vice-minister of commerce.

 

Products under all 7,614 customs tax file numbers will be included in the database, expanding from the current monitored products under 2,733 customs tax file numbers.

 

And more companies will join the database, said Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai.

 

According to Bo, the database’s monitoring range will expand from 500 enterprises nationwide, to over 3,000.

 

"It is expected 10,000 companies will be included in the monitoring system at the end of the year and the number will rise to 30,000 by 2008 to perfect our early warning system," Bo said.

 

The ministry also aims to add data about foreign competitors to provide companies with better international market information and improve their competitiveness.

 

Furthermore, 300 experts from related industries will participate in the system to help analyze the impact on home industries of both domestic and foreign trade policies, import and export volumes and price changes.

 

"Experiences from foreign countries showed that establishing a pre-warning system is one of the basic measures they have adopted to protect industry security," Bo told reporters.

 

The ministry gradually implemented the international early warning systems in some industries after the country’s 2001 accession to the World Trade Organization.

 

But as China opens up and competition in the international market intensifies, the country will face renewed and more numerous trade frictions.

 

Chinese products have so far been subject to 254 anti-dumping measures, four subsidies, 38 safeguard measures and 68 special safeguard measures implemented by foreign countries, leading Gao to highlight that protecting domestic industries from unfair charges has become an important issue.

 

The expanded industry security database will allow experts to suggest adjustments to export prices or destinations to avoid possible disputes, and to equip domestic companies with import information to avoid losses, said Mei Xinyu, a trade researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

 

The Ministry of Commerce yesterday named 12 local commerce departments including the Anhui provincial commerce department and 10 organizations such as the China Textile Industry Association and China Steel Industry Association as pilots to help build the database.

 

(China Daily September 8, 2006)