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5. China should speed up the bringing up of more talents and professionals skillful in applying the WTO rules for the protection of its trade interests. From 2005, China will be faced up with more challenges, as it will have to fulfill its commitments upon its accession to the WTO to open wider to the outside world.More talents and professionals expert at foreign languages, law, economics and the WTO rules are needed to tackle the increasing trade disputes. Moreover, China should not locate itself only as a WTO member that frequently has to deal with trade disputes in a passive manner. To get a position in the WTO consistent with its economic strength and trade volume, China should represent the interests of the vast majority of the developing world and shift itself from a passive acceptor of rules to a country expert at exploiting the WTO rules to protect its own trade interests and, at last, to a main force in the WTO to participate in making and modifying the WTO rules and upholding the principle of free and fair trade.
II) Microscopic Measures
1. China should attach more importance to and make full use of the functions of trade associations. In the case of PSSMs, trade associations can at least perform their functions to facilitate responses to PSSMs investigations and reduce unfavorable measures against Chinese products.
1) To provide information. Many trade frictions resulted from the fact that Chinese enterprises lacked information and direct communication with their foreign counterparts.The trade associations should provide Chinese enterprises with timely and updated information including precautions and potential risks in the trade.
2) To create a mechanism for regulation and supervision for the sector. The ultimate objective of an enterprise is to seek profits, which often induces some enterprises to neglect or even break rules. In the case of foreign trade, the trade associations should undertake to formulate and implement rules and regulations for the sector to regulate the export of enterprises for fair competition in the trade.
3) To protect the interests of enterprises and the whole trade. Trade associations are the patron saint of enterprises. When the interests of one enterprise or more in the sector are injured as a result of PSSMs, the trade associations have the responsibility to exploit all resources and possible means within the limit of law and coordinate all forces to protect the affected enterprises.
4) To lobby foreign governments, parties, industrial societies and relevant interest groups. The application of PSSMs may benefit the domestic industry of the applying country, but at the same time it may also infringe the interests of other enterprises outside the industry and ultimate users in the country. The possibility of winning the investigation case on the side of China will very likely increase if the Chinese trade association succeeds in creating protests within the applying country by lobbying the foreign government, industrial societies and affected interest groups.
2. China should adopt measures to foster brokerage agencies. In many western countries, brokerage agencies are well developed and function well. Non-profit seeking agencies like law firms and accountant firms as well as profit seeking advisory and consulting companies perform extraordinary roles in dealing with antidumping, countervailing and safeguard cases. As China enters a new stage of development after its accession to the WTO, trade disputes are possibly increasing in large numbers in the near future. Making full use of the professional skills of the brokerage agencies to win PSSMs investigations is worth special attention.
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