PNTR and China's accession into the World Trade Organization are critical goals for the high tech industry, and we believe that the President's strong endorsement will boost efforts for congressional action this year. A vote in favor of China PNTR and WTO membership is a vote for high tech. A 'NO' vote will only hamstring American high tech companies and workers.
China is a dynamic, rapidly growing international market with significant, long-term potential.
This is an unprecedented opportunity to open up new investment, trade and electronic commerce opportunities for American companies. And, we believe China's accession to the WTO will lead to further improvements in its intellectual property protection, as the added pressure of 135 countries will be upon China to meet WTO's intellectual property obligations. We must seize this opportunity. Recent projections have shown that Asia, Western Europe and other regions will begin to catch up to North America in Internet usage by the year 2005. PNTR for China and WTO membership will help American companies tap into this new economic opportunity and further boost the expansion of e-commerce around the world.