Evans said China was one of the most important trade partners of the United States, and many US companies were interested in business opportunities in China. "The companies with us this week are in sectors with great potential -- information technology, telecommunications, engineering, construction, and medical technology," he said. "We have more US Commerce Department personnel and resources in China than in any other nation." US exports to China rose sharply in the last two years, in what some called the "WTO (World Trade Organization) effect," he said.

In China, more sectors were opening up, and the US was happy about China's WTO membership. He said China's remarkable achievement had attracted more foreigners, and the US was willing to continue cooperation with China in the field of technology aid.

Source: MOFTEC P.R.C

Launching a survey to determine the universe of Internet users in China, Nielsen//NetRatings confirmed China as the largest Internet population in the Asia Pacific region, and the second largest worldwide after the US. 

"Our enumeration survey found 56.6 million people living in households with Internet connections, amounting to just over five per cent of homes in China. Consider the Internet market potential when Internet household penetration rates in China start to more closely resemble those in other markets such as the US, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong, where penetration currently sits above 50 per cent," said Hugh Bloch, managing director, Nielsen//NetRatings North Asia.

"A 25 per cent penetration rate in China would amount to a potential 257 million people in China with access to the Internet at home. The potential is staggering, and it's a not-too-distant reality. According to the Chinese Ministry of Information, new Internet subscription rates in China are growing 5 - 6 per cent monthly. At these kinds of growth rates, 25 per cent Internet penetration in China is only three or four years off," added Bloch.

The Nielsen//NetRatings enumeration survey was conducted in the first quarter of 2002. It is based on telephone interviews with 1,000 randomly selected households with a fixed line telephone across mainland China. The provinces of Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Qinghai, Gansu, Tibet, and Guizhou were excluded. The resulting population coverage is 65% of land mass, 95% of national population and 97.5% of internet population.

Bloch noted that the potential Internet universe could be even higher if more Chinese people gain access to fixed telephone lines. "Currently, only 35.6% of homes in China have a fixed telephone line, and even out of that comparatively small percentage there are nearly 57 million people with Internet access today, again underscoring the vast opportunities in this market," he said.

The Nielsen//NetRatings survey also found Chinese men aged 16 to 34 dominate Internet access and usage at home, and more than 80 per cent of those users 16 and over used it twice a week or more.

Among those with home Internet connections who also surf elsewhere, home was found to be the preferred venue for Internet surfing, accounting for 53 per cent, followed by Internet Cafes (27 per cent) and work (24 per cent).

The Nielsen//NetRatings audience measurement service tracks audience and advertising information on the web, collected in real time from a representative panel of households with Internet access in each country.
 

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings

He pointed out that although Chinese information industry was expanding, and technologic level was surging, there still existed great gap as compare with the informationization level of developed countries.

He said that in order to make breakthrough in broadband bottleneck, China should accelerate the construction of information infrastructure with super capacity, advanced technology, high efficiency and high reliability. According to the demand of combination of three networks, China should propel the transition and upgrade of networks, develop it to be a public information network combining voice, data and image, which could meet various demands of basic telecommunication business and broadband multimedia business.

In the aspect of core technology, he said that China should establish highly competitive scientific research production system. China should insist on the combination of introduction and innovation to make great development in the IC and software field, and to raise the proportion of intellectual property and to fulfill industrialization in the fields of submicron IC, high competence computer, photoelectron material and apparatus.

He also expressed that in the IT application, China should realize the coordination of network and share of information, and propel the informationization construction which centralizing on the reconstruction of traditional industries. China should accelerate the construction of information system in various industries, make efforts to tap information resources in key fields, and encourage the development of public database and resources sharing. China should base on the projects of Governmental Online, Enterprises Online and Family Online to propel the process of informationization in various fields.

Source: Asiaport Daily

Xie Xuren, vice-minister of the State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC), said here at the global sourcing forum, that the opening of the commercial sector is one of the important components of China's overall opening-up policy, and the country will gradually open business services such as wholesale, retail, franchise and other distribution services over the next two to five years.China will keep its WTO promises by introducing statutes concerning foreign investment in this field, and opening the sector even wider to the world, he noted. China will pay special attention to the opening of chain store management and logistics, encourage the introduction of advanced logistics experience and technologies, and urge foreign capital to help upgrade China's traditional commercial businesses.

In addition, China will encourage foreign investors to develop businesses such as large-scale shopping centers, middle-sized supermarkets and specialized shops, which are not widely established in the country, he said, adding that China will also direct the flow of foreign capital to avoid "blind" investment of some investors.Statistics show that from 1992 to date, China's State Council has ratified more than 40 foreign-invested commercial companies, bringing in over three billion U.S. dollars.

Source: MOFTEC P.R.C

According to the latest statistics from the State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC), the total purchase volume in China of cross-national chain groups reached 30 billion U.S. dollars last year, accounting for 12 percent of the domestic gross exports in the same period.

Xu Ming, an official with SETC, said that with the severe export situation in the world, the direct supply of "made in China" products to foreign chain groups had become a key channel for their entry into the global market.

In February of this year, the world's largest chain retailer Wal-Mart moved its global purchase center to Shenzhen, a boomtown in south China's Guangdong Province.

In addition to purchasing 10.3 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods from China per year, the center will also buy goods with a sales volume of 190 billion U.S. dollars through its global purchase network.

Carrefour, a world-renowned French retail giant, has set up purchase outlets in 11 Chinese cities, making China its largest purchase base in Asia.

In 2001, Carrefour totally bought 3.5 billion U.S. dollars worth of Chinese-made products, taking up 30 to 40 percent of its gross purchase amount in the world.

As China plans to lower customs tariffs from 15.3 percent to 10 percent in three years complying with the WTO rules, Chinese products, which now account for only two percent of the 1.5 trillion-U.S. dollar purchase volume of the world's top 500 transnational retail groups, will have more opportunities to show up in their purchasing lists.

"The quality and price of 'made-in-China' goods already possess strong competitiveness in the international market," said Zhang Yiguang, manager of Carrefour's purchase office in China.

"With China further reducing customs and canceling export quota limitations, overseas chain groups like Carrefour will have an increasing purchase amount in China," Zhang said.

Starting business with only several hundred yuan in 1986, Tianjin Jinmao Corporation is now the largest manufacturer of caulking guns in Asia with scores of major products.

The turning point occurred to Jinmao in 1997 when the small enterprise traded with the Home Depot chain group of the United States, whose strict demands urged it to make great adjustments in the process flow, management style and quality control.

Currently, Jinmao exports 10 million caulking guns per year, among which 4.8 million sell through the Home Depot. Last year, it reported total exports of 13.2 million U.S. dollars.

"The cooperation with the international chain group has changed the fortunes of our company," said Li Jie, Jinmao's general manager.

Lu Renbo, an official with the development research center under the State Council, considers that the global chain groups are putting more value on China's high-level suppliers, which allows a growing number of domestic enterprises to get effective market information and management expertise through cooperation.

Currently, in various domestic trade fairs, both enterprises producing Chinese traditional embroideries and manufacturers producing Western holiday ornaments are trying to enter the huge purchase networks of the world's chainstore giants.

According to Guo Geping, president of the China Chainstore and Franchise Association, the competitiveness enhancement will enable Chinese enterprises to take the initiative in their cooperation with the foreign chain groups.

To encourage the purchase of "made-in-China" products by multinational commercial groups, the Chinese government is striving to promote "close-contact" between domestic manufacturers and overseas chain groups, enhancing its services such as goods testing and quarantine as well as loans and taxation.

"The government must shoulder the responsibility of transforming its functions after the WTO entry," said Xu Ming.

Source: People's Daily