On November 15, 1999, China and the United States completed bilateral negotiations and signed, in Beijing, a bilateral agreement regarding negotiations on China's accession to the WTO. By now, China has signed bilateral agreements with 140 countries, thus paving the way for China's WTO entry and indicating that China will soon be able to join international cooperation and competition.

I. Recent History and Future Prospect of China's Social Development

The social development in China in the recent past and the near future can be divided into four periods. The first period commenced in the year 1919, when the May Fourth Movement launched a new wave of criticism against Confucian philosophy and Chinese traditions, and ended in 1948. In the 30 years, intellectuals explored the social dynamics of contemporary Chinese society, including the changes taking place in the class structure, the conflicts between the old and the new, between East and West. The second period covered the years from 1949, when the People's Republic of China was established as a democratic dictatorship, to 1978, when the Third Plenum of the Eleventh Party Congress was held and focused on the Four Modernizations (industry, agriculture, defense, and science/technology), initiating a fundamental reorganization of Chinese economy, society, and culture. The third period was from 1979 to 2008 and highlighted by the reform and opening-up. China made a lot of achievements in the time scope and is now making efforts to transform the planned economy to the socialistic market economy. Looking forward to the fourth 30-year period from 2009 to 2038, we are expected to witness gradual improvement of the socialist market economy, and the corresponding superstructure. Reforms on the political system and other systems as well will be accomplished in the period. While in the fifth period spanning 30 years from 2039 to 2068, China will fulfill the final unification and become a powerful and wealthy nation.

We now stay in the third period that spans critical thirty years for the future development in China. In this period, China decided to join the WTO, which is of far-reaching significance.

II. Brief Introduction of the WTO and WTO Impacts on China's Industries

(1) WTO in Brief

The World Trade Organization (WTO), which was established on January 1, 1995, is the only international organization dealing with the global rules of trade between nations. The WTO is a descendant of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was established at the end of World War II. From 1947 to 1995, GATT was the principal vehicle driving trade liberalization. The parties to GATT engaged in multilateral trade negotiations, called "Rounds," which dealt with the likes of tariff reductions and trade remedies. The eighth round -- the 1986-94 Uruguay Round of Multilateral Negotiations -- led to the WTO's creation. Trade ministers from WTO member countries meet biennially (the most recent meeting was in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001) to discuss such matters as trade liberalization and ongoing negotiations.

(2) WTO Impacts on China's Industries

China's entry into the WTO marks an entirely new period for its economic development. But this has different effects on different sectors and industries. As for the same sector and industry, the long-term effects and short-term effects are also different. We should adopt a positive attitude and make an in-depth study of the WTO so as to make use of advantages and avoid disadvantages. We should take the opportunities brought about by China's accession to the WTO and meet with new challenges. For a long time, China has adopted protective tariff policies towards the import of farm produce. Although China exempts taxes on import of grain, cotton and edible oil, it sets 50 to 100% high tariff rates on imports of other farm produce and adopts other non-tariff measures such as planned quotas, import permit, technology and sanitation test standard. The Sino-US bilateral agreement signed on November 15 states that China will reduce the average tariff rate on farm produce to 17% and reduce the average tariff rate on the farm produce that the United States concerns to 14.5 and 15%. The tariff rate reduction is to be completed before 2004.

Agriculture: In the next five years, the subsidies to farm produce export will be gradually abolished; all the import quotas and quantity limits will be lifted; and private importers are to be permitted to take part in import business. But China will set up a tariff ceiling system in the agricultural sector. After China's entry into the WTO, in a short term, the grain production including wheat, maize and rice, will not be greatly affected. But as import quotas on cotton and edible oil will be larger than previous actual imports, especially the import quota on cotton has already accounted for more than15% of the domestic output, the cotton production will be greatly affected in a short term. From a medium- and long-term viewpoint, the effects on wheat and maize production call for due attention. It is estimated that China's annual wheat import will increase from 2 million tons now to 5 million tons, which will bring about RMB5.5 billion worth of losses to Chinese farmers every year. The disparity among regions and the income gap among farmers will also be widened. The macro control capacity of the government over agriculture, especially over grain, will be affected, that is, it cannot use traditional methods to control import quantity below the quota amount through the monopoly position of the State-owned foreign trade departments.

Textile industry and some other industries: There are more favorable factors than unfavorable ones on China's textile industry after China joins the WTO. Trade barriers will be greatly reduced and trade liberalization among member states of the WTO will be further raised, which will benefit the diversity of China's textile export market and bring about steady increase in export quantity. The disputes on textile trade can also be rationally settled in the frame of the WTO. In addition, after China enters the WTO, the decline of tariff on import of textile raw materials will help China's textile enterprises to lower their production costs and to raise their profits and competitiveness. The improvement of international trade environment and reduction of production cost will promote China's textile exports. Moreover, China's entry into the WTO sets new demands on its textile sector in its reforms in the management mechanism, and planning and investment systems. Finally, China's entry into the WTO will promote readjustment of its textile industrial structure. Besides textile industry, the WTO entry will boost exports of some products in chemical, and iron & steel industries, and will further bring technologically matured color TV sets, washing machines, fanners, bicycles, toys and so on to the international market.

Automobile industry: It is an industrial sector that enjoys highest protection from import. Now the weighted average tariff rate of automobile products is 55% with 80 to 100% tariff rates for sedan cars. After China's entry into the WTO, China's tariff rate for cars will be reduced to 25 and 35% and the rate for automobile parts be reduced to 10% in the transition period till 2005. The import quota value of automobile annually rises 15% on the base of 6 billion U.S. dollars till the quota is totally canceled. The sedan car industry is facing stern challenges. After China joins the WTO, (1) Import of automobile products and software and hardware technology for auto industry will increase at a large margin and the production of China's automobile industry is expected to decrease 11%. In the five-year transition period, the price for imported cars will decline at an average annual rate of 2 to 3%. It is preliminarily estimated that the market share rate of imported automobile products will rise from present 3% to about 10%. (2) Automobile industry will enhance its competing edge. As the largest motorcycle producer, China has obvious advantages on the world market. It is also advantageous in lorry and mini-bus production. Due to graduate reduction of tariff and quotas in the transition period, the adverse effects on China's automobile industry will be buffered, which will allow optimization of the automobile product mix, growth of production and improvement of competitiveness of automobile industry. (3) With competition becoming more acute, technology upgrading will be more likely. The opening of domestic market will be obviously accelerated, which has extensively and deeply enhanced competition on domestic market of automobile products. The original "import substitute" products or technology for "secondary assembly stations of transnational corporations" cannot meet the demands of new market competition. (4) Domestic service market will be expanded. Foreign service enterprises will further enter China's automobile service market to fill some blanks in Chin's service sector, which is helpful to meeting the demands on service from production and consumption.

Information Technology (IT) Industry: China's current average tariff rate on import of IT technology products is 13.3%. After China joins the WTO and in 2005, China's tariff rate will be zero and China will lift the market access restrictive measures such as demanding foreign enterprises' technology transfer and increase of China's export quota. In general, China's IT industry will have more favorable effects. China's entry into the WTO will help improve China's export environment and increase China's IT products' share on the world market; it will help domestic enterprises to reduce procurement costs for raw materials; it will facilitate China's enterprises to open up the world market for development; and the opening and development of telecommunications services will promote growth of production of telecommunications terminal equipment. High technology focusing on IT is the commanding elevation for world countries to pursue. To occupy China's IT product market, developed countries will pursue more tight blockade and control on technology to China. When the restrictive measures of "technology for market" and "market for market" are lifted, it will be more difficult for China to acquire foreign advanced technology. With the demands on China's IT product market increasing, imports of overseas products will be greatly increased and the approaches of market competition will be diversified. On the other hand, since lots of core technology of IT industry and high technology are owned by developed countries, China's IT industry will be in disadvantageous position in competition.

Telecommunications Service Industry: In the Sino-US bilateral agreement, the Chinese government promised to allow foreign capital to have 49% of the total shares of the Sino-foreign funded telecommunications service enterprises. After one year operation, foreign capital's share can rise to 50%; Foreign Internet Service Providers (ISP) are permitted to invest in China; foreign corporations can participate in China's satellite telecommunications business. China's entry into the WTO will first bring about disadvantages and then benefits to the country's telecommunications service industry. (1) China's telecommunications service industry is facing stern challenges. The opening fields and extent involved in the Sino-US agreement are very broad and thus, the opening up and reforms of China's telecommunications industry are facing stern challenges. Foreign telecommunications capita will make use of China's existing telecommunications network resources to compete with State-owned enterprises in the added-value business and mobile telecommunications business with highest economic returns. The state-owned enterprises, however, are disadvantageous not only in value-added technology and experiences but also infixed telecommunications facilities construction and "universal service" and other quasi government functions. (2) The reform and reorganization of China's telecommunications industry will be promoted. In a perspective of long-term interests, the opening of China's market to foreign investors will enhance the mobility of China's telecommunications market. Any price reduction resulting from market opening up will benefit consumers, which will greatly stimulate demands to spur capital reorganization in the telecommunications industry. Finally, the telecommunications industry on the whole will get benefits.

Finance and Insurance Service Sector: The bilateral agreement between the Chinese and U.S. governments has made substantial stipulations on the market access conditions of China's financial service trade: Foreign banks can engage in Renminbi business two years after China joins the WTO and in 2005, they can open retail banking business; foreign banks can set up branches in China; a small number of Sino-foreign jointly funded securities corporations can engage in fund management, securities issue business and foreign-currency based securities business; at the early period when the Sino-foreign jointly invested fund management corporations are set up, the foreign side can own 33% of the total shares. Three years later, their shares can increase to 49%; those corporations engaged in underwriting securities can have 33% of shares. After China's entry into the WTO, China's financial sector will be affected to some extent, but in general, it will get benefits: (1) China's financial institutions are facing challenges. In 2005 when China completely opens its Renminbi market, the operation of domestic banks will be greatly affected. In the early period after China joins the WTO, China's financial sector will be opened step by step and the effects of the market access on it are small. But if China's commercial banks fail to promptly improve management and service quality, and to reduce risks and bad loans, the entry of foreign banks will exert great pressure and impacts on China's financial industry in competition. (2) It is favorable to the reforms of the financial system and development of State-owned financial enterprises. After China opens its financial service market, the entry of foreign financial capital in China will prompt domestic financial institutions to conduct reforms of the management system, supervision system, management and service standard in line with international standards or norms. The competition mechanism will be introduced into the finance sector; the fine management of foreign financial institutions will provide an example for domestic counterparts and by learning of advanced management methods, the management of domestic financial institutions will be improved. (3) Domestic financial institutions will continue to maintain its competitive edge. Through many years of development, domestic financial institutions have set up a relative complete service network and have strong capability to cope with the situation. In their relations with customers and domestic business experiences, they enjoy irreplaceable advantages. The first choice of competition fields for foreign financial institutions is intermediary business like international settlement with less risk, low cost, and high profits. They are weak in competition in the traditional sector for the time being. (4) As for the insurance sector, their opening process will be tighter in procedures and system after China joins the WTO. At present, the traditional management and supervision over the insurance market in China is to conduct dual management and supervision over indemnity rate and payment capability. All insurance activities are under complete supervision of insurance supervision departments. After China's entry into the WTO, a large number of foreign insurance companies will enter China's insurance market, which will prompt a complete reform of China's insurance supervision and management system.

After China joins the WTO, many industries face stern tests, and the culture industry, a major part of the service industry, will also face opportunities and challenges brought about by international competition.

III. WTO Impacts on China's Culture Industry

1. Culture and the Culture Industry

(1). Definition of "Culture"

Culture is the entirety of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, and all other products of human work and thought: decorative artifacts, environmental pollutants, high art, political ideologies, ritual beliefs, social customs, and so on.

In anthropology, culture refers to the way of life of a human society, especially traditions transmitted from one generation to the next by learning and by experience. Cultural universals include social organization, religion, structure, economic organization, and material culture (sometimes called visual culture). The spread of culture traits (customs, ideas, attitudes) among groups by direct or indirect contact is called diffusion. The general stages in cultural evolution are nomadic food gathering, then settled food production, and finally urban dwelling.

In the arts, the term is often used to refer to the expression of a particular period, class, or community, especially intellectual and artistic activity, and the works produced by it. Also, it refers to the development of the intellect through training or education. And, culture can refer to a high degree of taste and refinement formed by aesthetic and intellectual training.

(2). Definition of "Culture Industry"

An Australian researcher, John Sinclair, has described the social function of the culture industry in the following way:

The culture industry produces commodities and services which in some way express the way of life, such as film and television, or which occupy a special place in the social communications system, such as advertising or the press. It is an industry giving a form to social life through sound, mental images, words and pictures. It offers concepts and symbols by means of which we think and communicate when we reflect on the differences between social models, the definitions and identities of groups, the strengthening of social values and ideals, and our experience of social changes.

In the future, the reception and production of culture and the arts will increasingly take place within the culture industry. It is possible to give an increasing number of people for access to rich, high-quality culture and living arts.

(3). China's Culture Industry

The world has diversified and colorful cultures, which present different features in different periods, places, religions and so on. However, these cultures all came into existence in wake of people's different material and spiritual demands, and they are all results of human's labor and wisdom in the process of conquering and reconstructing the nature and belong to the whole world. What's more, only if people keep developing culture can they get satisfied during continuous material and spiritual pursuits. Therefore, unceasing cultural renovations and development, inter transmission, exchanges and amalgamation of different cultures provide headspring for creation of material and spiritual wealth; during the process emerged various cultural products catering to people's demands and gradually form the specific industrial pattern, i.e. the culture industry.

Prosperity of culture is the precondition and foundation for development of the culture industry. Chinese ancestors left a tremendous amount of cultural heritages for later generations and China's culture industry boasts huge development potential. However, China's culture industry still lags far behind that of some other countries due to restrictions of a less-developed society and economy. Categorized according to factors of industry mainstay and state of industrial development, China's present culture industry falls into 10 sectors - cultural sectors of media, technology, education, arts, tourism, architecture, sports, catering, medicine and garment, of which the first five sectors, which have undergone a relatively long period of development, are the major cultural sectors; the rest five, which started late, are the subordinated ones. The country's culture industry is expected to be more complete with the rapid economic development.

2. WTO Impacts on China's Culture Industry

After China enters the WTO, its culture market will be further opened to the outside world, and culture enterprises, just like enterprises in other industries, will face various opportunities and challenges as well in the cutthroat competition.

China has made big progress in its cultural development in the past decade but the level still lags far behind that of developed countries in terms of the industrial scale, annual business volume and its contribution to GDP. After China joins the WTO, developed countries will enter the Chinese market with their cultural products depending on their large industrial scale and abundant capital, and thus Chinese culture industry will feel the pinch from the forceful attack.

The culture industry in China is far from the international level in terms of its poor management concept, singularity of products, lack of relation with other related industries and absence of interwoven production chains. With the above-mentioned advantages, developed countries will market cultural products much favored by Chinese consumers in China.

In China, the weak management power forms a sharp contrast with the huge culture market. The government's emphasis on the ideological nature of cultural products and negligence of legislative work in this domain in the past has resulted in the absence of a good legal system for the management and supervision of the culture market. Illegalities such as smuggling and pirating have somewhat frustrated the industry's smooth, healthy development. Up to now, the government has promulgated the Copyright Law, the Regulations on Administration of Audiovisual Products, the Regulations on Administration of Entertainment Places, the Regulations on Administration of Commercial Performances and the Regulations on Administration of the Publishing Industry, etc., and will continue its efforts to improve the legal environment for the culture industry in view of the country's real situation and in accordance with the WTO rules after it enters the trading system, thus facilitating fair competition and at the same time requiring regular and well-ordered market operation in its culture industry.

However, market is bi-directional and it is essential for China's culture industry to orient its products to both the home market and the international market. After China enters the WTO, its culture industry can spread China's fine traditional cultural products abroad and explore the international market through multinationals' mature overseas distribution channels. In addition, the development and utilization of domestic traditional cultural resources will be sped up, driving the comparatively laggard culture industry and culture market and gaining an important world position.

IV. WTO Impacts on Guizhou Province

1. WTO Impacts on Economy

Guizhou Province, isolated from the rest of the world for centuries by its mountainous terrain, remains one of China's most isolated and unspoiled provinces. Unreasonable economic structure has long held back the economic development of Guizhou Province. In the past it has relied on the military, coal, metallurgy, tobacco and wine industries. But such an industry structure cannot meet the needs of today's economic growth. China's accession into the WTO will bring Guizhou economy into a more difficult condition.

(1) On the one hand, China's accession to the WTO will tremendously challenge Guizhou's industries in the following aspects. First, long plagued by enterprise management system, poor technological quality, small scale and shortage of talents, the province's enterprises will feel much survival pinch in face of fierce competition from foreign giants. Second, a large number of enterprises are still in red and they cannot return to profit even after the country's WTO entry. Third, problems that some difficult problems such as the issue of intellectual property, lay-off and corruption that plagued the State-owned enterprise reform remain unsettled. Impacted by the process of WTO entry, it is likely that these problems will become more extruding and acute. Fourth, the entry of foreign enterprises will inevitably squeeze out some domestic ones and lead to more enterprise bankruptcies and closures. On the other hand, Guizhou's industrial development will enjoy more challenges after China joins the WTO. First, inflow of more foreign capital and technologies can better bring into play the province's advantages in resources. Second, its industrial enterprises will have more opportunities to contact foreign giants, learn from foreign advanced management theories and experience and upgrade their own enterprises. Finally, the market environment in the province will turn more favorable, elevating enterprises' survival capacity and promoting their healthy development.

(2) China's accession into the WTO will exert more positive effects on Guizhou's agriculture than on its industries. Guizhou's agriculture will be affected by lower tariffs and absence of non-tariff measures just like agriculture in the country, but it will witness much development with increasing exports of some farm produce and processed agricultural goods with special characteristics and advantages.

(3) After China joins the WTO, inflow of multinationals and foreign capital will certainly create pressures on weak industries in the province; eastern areas in China will increase import of raw materials such as chemical materials, minerals and farm produce, thus lowering demands for products of the like in Guizhou Province. The post-WTO situation of the rest industries is similar to that of the same industries in other provinces. But compared to other developed provinces, Guizhou Province is expected to receive fewer attacks due to its comparatively small gross economic value.

II. WTO Impacts on Guizhou's Culture Industry

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially after the reform and opening-up, Guizhou's industry witnessed rapid development. Sectors of media culture, national arts, sports, tourism, technology and education, Internet culture, films and TV and catering service all enjoyed certain growth. However, comparatively laggard economy leads to slow cultural development and the province's culture industry still falls behind the national development.

China's accession into the WTO is beneficial to Guizhou's cultural development in a long period. The province has rich tourism resources and colorful cultural traditions. Its beckoning treasures include Asia's biggest waterfall, China's largest limestone cave, areas of primeval forest, and rare plant and animal species. Celebrated for its hospitality, the province is a lively, visual mix of 13 different ethnic groups, many of whom continue an ancient way of life and time-honored traditions. Further exploring these advantages, Guizhou Province is sure to have a good prospect of tourism and culture industries.

V. Countermeasures for Culture Industry to Meet WTO Challenges

From above analyses we see that Guizhou's culture industry will both enjoy rights and shoulder corresponding responsibilities after the country joins the WTO. On the one hand, the industry will face more fierce internal and external competition due to further opening up; on the other hand, it is more urgent to change way of thinking and better systems in the culture industry. Confronted with such problems and difficulties, what are the countermeasures for industries especially the culture industry?

1. We should form adequate knowledge of significance of the country's WTO entry dialectically, measure advantages and disadvantages on the single enterprises and the whole industry, and analyze the impacts in the short run and long run as well. In terms of advantages and disadvantages, we should properly measure them from the perspective of future development of world culture, exchanges of western and eastern cultures and development of socialistic culture and culture industry with Chinese characteristics. The fifth plenary session of the 15th CPC Central Committee pointed out that we should carry on further cultural system reform, set up scientific, flexible and effective management system and operation mechanism of cultural products, and tighten construction and management of the culture market. This provides unprecedented historical opportunities for the country's cultural development and at the same time lodges more stringent requirements for Guizhou's cultural market and cultural industry.

2. As we all know, culture in a certain extent reflects the corresponding social ideology, which in turn determines the direction of cultural development. China is now constructing a socialist society with Chinese characteristics and the ideology guiding China and its Communist Party is Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory. It is an integral whole and represents the synthesis of politics of first the communist movement generally and especially its application to China's conditions. Therefore, we should develop a socialistic culture and culture industry with Chinese characteristics under the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory, actively promote the socialistic culture and national culture and produce more and more quality products tailored to the mass and the market.

3. Comrade Jiang Zemin pointed out that innovation is the soul of a nation and is the momentum that never dries up to drive a country's prosperity and development. In an era of innovations, we should pursue innovation in ways of thinking, creating more refined cultural products that reflect characteristics of the time and national flavor to meet increasing demands. In terms of innovation in system of culture industry, we should first set up a socialist market economy, beef up legislative work, improve industrial investment and environment for development, and encourage cooperation between various cultural sectors and realizing intensive operation of culture industry. As for innovation in national culture, we mean that we should inherit the long-tradition and colorful cultural heritages and endue them with new characteristics and meanings of the time. Guizhou Province possesses distinct ethnic cultures, regional history, custom, ecological tourism and catering service, which provide advantages for the province in seeking international development. In introducing these cultures abroad, we should sum up their "Guizhou features" and innovate cultural products. Talent innovation is of the same importance as innovations in the above-mentioned three aspects. Talent is the key to creating refined cultural products but China lacks the professional people that are aggressive and far-sighted. Therefore, we should introduce innovations in fostering talents, fully exploiting their strong points and avoid shortcomings. China's socialist cultural development calls for culture masters such as Shakespeare in Britain, Goethe Germany, Balzac in France, Ernest Hemingway in the US, Tolstoy in Russia and Tagore in India to add splendor to the time and make a good showing of the national culture.