Out of Africa and into a new world trading order
By You Nuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-10-30 08:39
Beijing is hosting a China-Africa summit this week and many poster boards
have been erected along the city's major roads announcing the importance of
Sino-African relations.
The significance of the once seemingly distant
continent to China is yet to be fully appreciated by many people here. And the
best rewards China can hopefully gain from Africa are nothing
material.
Of course, material-wise, China's benefit from Africa is
indisputable rich. According to officials from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce,
China-African trade is expected to exceed US$50 billion this year, boosted, in
part, by the most-favoured-nation trade status that China and 41 African
countries provide to each other.
Five years ago, by comparison, China's
trade with Africa was still US$10 billion. In trade volume, Africa's importance
for China increased five times in five years, faster than any other region's
increase in the world.
Viewed in conjunction with the upcoming fifth
anniversary of China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the
completion of membership compliance, this is only the beginning. China's trade
is on a rapid rise with all continents in the world and the trend is showing no
signs of abating.
Although many Chinese doubted its fruition five years
ago, when Beijing mustered courage to pursue China's WTO membership, it is now
clear the country has benefited enormously from joining it and becoming a more
active participant in the global market.
Some 20 years ago, China's
weight was only marginal in global trade. In only five years, China has advanced
by leaps and bounds.
Many other countries in the developing world can
also achieve similar results. Equally rapid changes would occur in their
economies if they could better accommodate the global market system, and embark
on social programmes at the same time.
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