CEPA: A Shortcut to PRC Market Entry?

January 31, 2004 | BY

clpstaff &clp articles

By Sharon Chen and Jocelyn WangEighteen months after joining the WTO, the PRC entered into a Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) with the Hong…

By Sharon Chen and Jocelyn Wang

Eighteen months after joining the WTO, the PRC entered into a Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and soon thereafter with the Macau SAR. Both agreements became effective on January 1 2004.  CEPA was first proposed as a measure to assist the SARs to fight the economic downturn of the last few years; however, it may now become a system with much more far-reaching effects. It may provide China with a warm-up for the real impact of WTO membership, and may provide an alternative path for foreign service providers to obtain access into the China market.  Taking the Hong Kong distribution and trading sectors as an example, we can see how China¡¦s WTO commitments and the CEPA system compare.

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