China confident to maintain stable, healthy economic development
By Du Haitao, Li Lihui from People’s Daily
China’s tariff counteractions against the US won’t have a huge impact on itself. The country has the confidence and ability to maintain stable and healthy economic development, Chinese experts said.
On Aug. 3, China announced its decision to impose additional tariffs of four rates on 5,207 items of imported US products worth $ 60 billion. The rates of additional tariffs on such products will be 25 percent, 20 percent, 10 percent, and 5 percent, according to the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council.
China will instantly implement the countermeasures if the US obstinately puts its additional tariff measures into effect, said the commission.
The decision came one day after the U.S. Trade Representative proposed targets for 25 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, up 15 percent from that launched on July 11.
China adopted the countermeasures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). They are lawful measures to safeguard the multilateral trading system and the global value chain, the experts said.
The US has seriously violated WTO rules, undermined the global industrial chain and free trade system, and once again unilaterally escalated trade frictions. Its behaviors are typically trade blackmail, said Chen Wenling, chief economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.
That China decisively took countermeasures has demonstrated its resolution to oppose, counter and strike back at the US trade blackmail, Chen said.
The tariff countermeasures were taken to save China’s economy under a passive circumstance. They are to alleviate the adverse effects of US protectionist measures and safeguard interests of China and the Chinese people, said Li Chunding, head of the institute for international economics of College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University.
They have also manifested China is resolved to oppose trade protectionism and safeguard multilateral trading system, Li added.
The countermeasures are reasonable actions taken under the circumstance that the US continued to intensify the China-US trade frictions, according to Tu Xinquan, director of the China Institute for WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.
Tu stressed that only consultation on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit is an effective way to resolve trade differences. Any unilateral threat or blackmail will only intensify trade disputes and damage the interests of all parties.
“According to the statement of the commission, we will strive to minimize the impact of the measures on China’s domestic production and people’s lives,” said Gao Lingyun, a research fellow of the Institute of World Economics and Politics with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
China has given full consideration to possible adverse effects of imposing the four-level tariff rates on the production of domestic enterprises and people’s lives, said Gao, adding that the country’s countermeasures are resolute and strong, as well as restrained and rational.
The countermeasures will not have a huge impact on China’s domestic market, Chen noted, explaining that China has fully considered and estimated the possible impact on the Chinese people and enterprises. The new tax revenue from the countermeasures will be mainly used to mitigate the impact on enterprises and employees, she said.
“China has both confidence and ability to maintain stable and healthy economic development,” said Li Yong, deputy director of the China Association of International Trade Expert Committee.
China’s economy is stable, Li Yong said. The country’s GDP growth reached 6.8 percent in the first half of the year, maintaining a medium-high speed of growth for 12 consecutive quarters. China has a very large market, with the final consumption expenditure contributing 78.5 percent to the national GDP growth.
China, with complete industrial categories and strong motivation for innovation, is the world’s second largest patent applicant. In addition, new business activities are continuously injecting impetus to the economy.
China has been steadfastly pushing forward reform and opening up. For example, the country has been easing its market access, broadening and deepening joint construction of the Belt and Road and preparing for the first China International Import Expo.
These major decisions and measures will stimulate new vitality and generate new impetus to economic development, as well as bring more sense of gain to the people, Li Yong noted.
China’s export of high value-added goods is growing rapidly, occupying an increasing proportion. Countries and regions participating in building the Belt and Road have become a new highlight in the export market, said Zhao Ping, director of the Department of International Trade Research at the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.
Zhao added that under such circumstances, China’s foreign trade will not be greatly reduced due to damaged exports to the US, and is still expected to see stable growth in the future.
（People’s Daily）
