PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release                                                                     ...............................Contact: Vladimir Gololobov September 14, 2005                                                                       .................................. .(202) 289-7460 U.S. Service Industry Underlines China’s Continued WTO Compliance Issues WASHINGTON - Coalition of Service Industries (CSI) President Bob Vastine testified today at the Trade Policy Staff Committee hearing on China’s implementation of its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments in services sectors. “I regret that many issues identified in last year’s CSI statement remain outstanding,” said Vastine. “We can only ask that the agencies represented here continue to use all forums available to intensify their efforts to remove barriers to services trade with China.” “Among cross-sectoral issues, China continues its erratic application of regulatory and licensing transparency, continues to require excessive capitalization, and continues restrictions on the form of establishment,” said Vastine. On government procurement, he noted that China has yet to begin negotiations to join the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). He also cautioned against the negative effects of China’s highly discriminatory, precedent-setting draft regulations on government procurement in software. On IPR protection, China’s piracy remains rampant due to lenient penalties, weak enforcement, and the lack of transparency. Vastine suggested that trade barriers in audiovisual, software and IT services, and a lengthy censorship process contribute to IPR infringements. Mr. Vastine expressed the service industry’s concern with China’s efforts to adopt unique national technology standards, which will become a significant barrier to foreign competition because they differ from accepted international standards.   On services safeguards, Vastine affirmed that CSI strongly opposes any efforts to employ a services safeguard mechanism stipulated by China’s Foreign Trade Law. Mr. Vastine commended China’s announcement to eliminate its geographical restrictions in insurance and to permit foreign entities to provide health, group, and annuity insurance. “However, CSI remains concerned about China’s restrictions on foreign insurance operations, such as branching rights and capitalization requirements,” he said. Vastine identified sector-specific market access issues in other key sectors, including banking, securities, asset management, pensions, payment services, express delivery, freight forwarding, logistics, telecommunications, and audiovisual services. # # # # PDF Version Click here to view the text of the statement