Financial Services in the Doha Round and China＇s Commitments

Current negotiations on financial services at the WTO are concerned with improving liberalization commitments over the Financial Services Agreement which became an integral part of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) in 1997. Important underlying issues of these negotiations are member states‘ policy decisions in two particular areas: capital account liberalization and prudential regulation. These decisions not only determine the member countries‘ scope for liberalization,, the liberalization commitments in turn also limit the scope of national economic poliey in these two areas. Taking these characteristics offinancial services talks into account, there are two major goals for the ongoing negotiations:for industrialized countries to make progress with respect to trade business and for developing countries and emerging-market economies to concentrate on improving market access on an established basis. For China, the most important goal is to implement the far-reaching liberalization commitments that were made in the context of its accession to the WTO in December 2001.     

The Reform of China＇s Rural Land System

This paper discusses the reform of China‘s rural land system in the past more than 20 years. It reviews the course of China‘s rural land system reform since 1978 and the enormous contribution that the household contract responsibility system made to China‘s agricultural and rural development. Then it summarizes the current situation and existing problems in China‘s rural land system. Finally, it offers some policy suggestions on how to perfect the rural land system.     

Analysis of China＇s Overheated Economy and Macroeconomic Policy Options

Based on macroeconomic analysis since 2003, this article holds mat a trena towaras overheating has surfaced in China‘s economy. China‘s rapid economic expansion has affected the quality of its growth, with rising material and energy consumption and imbalanced economic structure as the main manifestations. Regarding macroeconomic policy options in 2004, decision-makers should shift the policy focus from control of deflation to prevention of inflation; the pace of economic growth should be properly set; a balance between consumption and investment should be strengthened by controlling excessive expansion of investment, and industrial restructuring should be conducted in a coordinated manner on the basis of properly controlling the overly rapid indastrial growth; policies should be continued to boost exports and sustainable growth of foreign investment; and more efforts should be made to accelerate the change in the mode of economic growth.     

Reform of China＇s Pension System

This paper mainly analyzes development and reform of China‘s pension system. It introduces the evolution of China‘s pension system reform and discusses its strengths and problems.The paper then proposes some suggestions on the direction of China‘s pension reform. The last section is devoted to a discussion of China‘s corporate occupational pension, which is a fast-developing area of the pension system.     

How Mobile Are Resources in Chinese Agriculture？ —— Implications for China＇s Agricultural Trade Policy

Agricultural trade policy in China has been the subject of heated discussion since China's accession to the WTO. Studies have been carried out and propositions put forth regarding comparative advantage, food security, development of the industry, and farmers’ income. In this paper, we attempt to provide an analysis from another important perspective: resource mobility, which is an essential assumption in free trade theory. By examining the mobility of different production resources in Chinese agriculture, namely natural resources, capital inputs, human resources and institutional arrangements, we found that for most production resources in Chinese agriculture, mobility is low. The results have significant policy implications in two respects: first, protective measures in the transitional period for certain crops in certain areas in China are legitimate and necessary to ensure social stability; and second, policy instruments to improve resource mobility in Chinese agricultural should be explored and implemented to realize more trade benefit in the future. (Edited by Xinyu Fan)     

China＇s Foreign Trade： Achievements,Determinants and Future Policy Challenges

Over the past twenty-five years, China‘s foreign trade has achieved great success. The main determinants behind this success include market-oriented reform, appropriate trade and exchange rate policies, and the active participation of foreign-invested enterprises. However, China is far from completing the transition in trade structure, and is facing many difficult policy challenges in maintaining its export momentum into the future.     

Effectiveness of China＇s Monetary Policy and Reform of Its Foreign Exchange System

I. Introduction The background of this research is related to continued disputes between China and its trading partners, and to the resulting international pressure on China’s foreign exchange (Forex) system. As the fastest growing economy in the world, China’s foreign trade has expanded at a fantastic pace and its trade surplus with the rest of the world is huge and rising. This remarkable success has encountered increasing criticism, whether correct or not, from the countries that feel t…     

China‘s Financial Reform in the Context of Financial Stability and Efficiency

I. IntroductionAs Douglas North once said, "Institutions are the rules of the game in a society. The beginning of wisdom is to understand how the game is played." In the same way, it is vital to understand the international experience and rules of a financial system when a country tries to advance financial reform. International experience shows that the development     

Policy Options for China＇s Bio-ethanol Development and the Implications for Its Agricultural Economy

The present paper analyzes the potential impacts of bio-ethanol expansion on agricultural production, food prices and farmers＇ incomes in different regions of China. The results show that increase in demand for feedstock to produce bio-ethanol will lead to large increase in the prices of agricultural products. The increase in prices will trigger a significant rise in the production of feedstock at the cost of lower rice and wheat production. The study also reveals that the impacts of bio-ethanol on farmers＂ incomes vary largely among regions and farmer groups. Given the expected expansion of bio-ethanol production in the future, and the limited land resources for feedstock production in China, the viability of different crops as feedstock for bio-ethanol requires careful analysis before a large-scale expansion of China＇s bio-ethanol program. Bio-ethanol production in China should be relying more on the second generation of bio-ethanol technologies （i.e. using celluloses to produce bio-ethanol）, and China＇s government should increase research investment in this field.     

China＇s Pension Reform and Capital Market Development

The paper analyzes the interaction between the pension system and capital market development, especially the case of China. A funded pension system is most likely to boost the capital market, but in the absence of a supportive financial infrastructure and effective financial regulation, a funded system will not be successful. China‘s determination to establish a partially funded system is afirst step in the right direction, but without the separation of individual accounts from the social pooling and their replenishment, the working out of the implicit pension debt, and improvements in pension fund management and regulation, the pension system will not be sustainable. The key to capital market development in the process of the pension reform is to enact laws to protect the interests of pensioners, to contract out pension fund management to professional asset managers, and to accelerate the financial opening.     

China＇s Labor Transition and the Future of China＇s Rural Wages and Employment

This paper contributes to the assessment of China＇s rural labor markets. According to our data, the increase in off-farm employment that China experienced during the 1980s and 1990s continued during the 2000s. Our analysis shows that migration has become the most prevalent off-farm activity, although the destination of migrants is shifting from outside of one＇s province to destinations closer to home. The present paperfinds that large shares of male and female individuals, especially those under 40 years, are working off the farm. These findings represent an important contribution to the labor economics field. First, the results of the present paper reveal that the labor transition from the agricultural sector to the non-agricultural sector for key segments of China＇s rural labor force is nearly complete. Second, although a large share of China ＂s rural labor force work in agriculture, most of these workers are older men and women （and likely would not be willing to take low-wage, labor-intensive jobs）. Third, the rising unskilled wage rate in China is partially a result of the tightening of the labor force in the young age cohorts. Finally, due to factors associated with the one child policy and other demographic transition forces, successive age cohorts will continue to fall in absolute number in the coming decade. Assuming China＇s growth continues, we expect to see further wage increases since it will take higher wages to coax more workers to work off the farm.     

China＇s Regional Disparity and Its Policy Responses

The fruits of China＇s rapid economic development over the 3 decades have not been distributed fairly across different regions. Using data from a sample of 815 Chinese listed firrns during 1998-2004, our error-correction investment model showes evidence of different financial constraints on firms＇ investment in different regions. We argue that China＇s regional development policies have contributed greatly to the regional inequalities. To control the rising inequality, China has shifted its focus from the coast to the interior regions. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the government to direct the economy, as market mechanisms now have afar greater influence on the economy than the government does. The people-centered approach of the current leadership has meant that substantial attention has been placed on regional development disparities in an attempt to build a ＂harmonious society. ＂ China needs further extensive reforms if all the measures for reducing regional disparity are to be effective.     

Analysis of the Adjustment of China＇s Fiscal Policy in 2005

The prudent fiscal policy adopted in 2005 is the result of adopting a series of measures to strengthen macro control in recent years. The process of implementation will be gradual.During this period, pushing forward reforms is the main focus of all the measures. Tax reform, social security system reform and rural reform will need the most emphasis.     

Reform of Labor Policy in China：A Perspective of Political Economy

Ⅰ. IotroductionLike other related institutional arrangments in China,labor policy under the planned economic system re-sulted in two kinds of inefficiency. First, the inherentlack of labor supervision and lack of an incentivemechanism in the micro-management system led to lowtechnical efficiency. Second, the distorted allocation of     

China＇s New Rural Income Support Policy： Impacts on Grain Production and Rural Income Inequality

I. Introduction Since the beginning of 2004, the Chinese Government has replaced its centuries-old policy of taxing agriculture by a new policy aimed at subsidizing agriculture and stimulating rural incomes. To this end, agricultural taxes – standing at around 8 percent of agricultural incomes – were drastically reduced. By now they are abolished in most provinces. Inaddition, farmers growing grain receive a direct income subsidy, new seed varieties and mechanization are subsidized, and la…     

Effectiveness and Effects of China＇s Capital Controls

Reductions in barriers to global trade have not been accompanied by a widespread loosening of restrictions on international flows of capital, especially in China. This study shows that China has some of the most restrictive controls and uses them effectively to bias flows of cross-border capital heavily in favor of foreign direct investment (FDI) and limit flows of portfolio and bank assets and liabilities, as well as reducing capital flow volatility. China is now facing pressure to speed up its opening to all forms of cross border capital. But since China is still struggling to strengthen its domestic financial structure, capital account liberalization would expose it to considerable risks and potentially high costs.     

China＇s Industrial Policy in Relation to Electronics Manufacturing

China has become the biggest exporter of electronic products in the world. Government policy intervention has contributed significantly to the rapid expansion of the electronics industry. The present paper examines the evolutionary development of industrial policies related to the electronics industry in China and the impacts of such policies on the shaping of the industry. In particular, the relationship between foreign funded enterprises and domestic firms are examined in detail. The future trend of the industry is also discussed in the paper, and the policy focus of the Chinese Government is predicted.