China will continue to open up for int'l market

The development of China's new energy industry has been supported by rapid technological innovation, sufficient market competition and huge domestic market, and China will continue to open up to the international market, experts said on Friday.

"China's success is more about fostering market competition, rapid technological innovation and its super large market scale," said Yi Xiaozhun, former deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization at the fifth CCG VIP Luncheon held by the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), a Beijing-based think tank.

Yi rebutted the claim that the success of China's new energy industry is a result of government subsidies and he said that relying on subsidies will never create a healthy and competitive industry.

Yi said that China has pushed for innovations in energy efficient technologies and encouraged manufacturers to make their cars greener and strive for technology innovation. Intense competition will eliminate less competitive players in the market and will drive companies to accelerate innovation and continuously reduce their costs, he said.

"I fully agree with the statement that fragmented and uncoordinated trade policies make it harder to decarbonize. They added uncertainty for producers' cross-border movement of green technologies and inputs and slowed investment in clean technology. The success of China's electric vehicle industry can also be attributed to China's accession to the WTO with both market opening and full integration into the global value chain," Yi said.

Huo Jianguo, vice-chairman of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies, said China's exports are still facing difficulties and challenges. While China's industry is upgrading, the development of some high-tech industries has been hindered by trade protectionism.

"China's economy has huge potential in the future. I think China needs to continue with the high-level opening-up. For China, continuously exploring shares in the foreign market is needed to ensure stability in foreign trade." Huo said.