Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
as ntegraton wth the rest of the world over the last 20 years or so. Durng
this period, the diet of the Chnese people has been substantally mproved
and food securty has been more assured than at any tme n ts long hstory.
Second, market reforms in agriculture and in other sectors are not complete.
There are stll large gans that may be tapped through completon of the
reform agenda. Assessment of the agrcultural mpact needs to take nto
account the institutional impact. Third, income gaps between rural and
urban areas as well as among rural resdents n the dfferent regons have
become mportant ssues for the long term economc growth and socal
stablty of Chna. The ncome effects of agrcultural lberalsaton and ther
regional distribution deserve special attention. Finally, as indicated by China's
agricultural trade pattern since the 1980s, China has comparative advantage
n labour-ntensve agrcultural products and has comparatve dsadvantage
n land-ntensve products. It may be reasonably nferred that WTO accesson
wll produce two knds of trade mpacts for the Chnese agrcultural sector:
growth of exports of labour-ntensve agrcultural products and ncrease n
mports of land-ntensve agrcultural products.
Agricultural sector impacts of China's WTO accession
It has been wdely acknowledged that WTO accesson wll be a mlestone
n the process of Chna's ntegraton nto the global economy. It wll
undoubtedly produce tremendous challenges and opportuntes for the
Chnese agrcultural sector.
Opportunities and benefits of agricultural liberalisation
The potential benefits for the Chinese agricultural sector from WTO
accession may be assessed through three effects. The first is its institutional
reform mpacts. Although market-orented reform has made possble
great achievements in the Chinese agricultural sector, the reform agenda
is unfinished. Periodic reversals to the state monopolistic system in the
domestc dstrbuton of bulk agrcultural products such as gran and
cotton have led to huge clams aganst the Government budget over the
past 15 years. The unstable polcy envronment has also been detrmental
to agrcultural growth and farmers' nterests. The state monopoly n the
Search WWH ::




Custom Search