Retail prices for manufactured goods and agricultural products, however, continued to fall. New bank lending accelerated only marginally over 1999, continuing to reflect the government's efforts to stem the flow of bad loans which has supported the predominantly state-owned sector. The proposal also calls for an improved legal and regulatory framework and increased transparency. These revisions were part of the Chinese government's effort to revise its laws and regulations consistent with its WTO obligations. Problems continue despite progress While China's trade liberalization efforts represent a step forward, there were also a number of new regulations introduced that erected new or worsened existing trade barriers.
China requires quality licenses for manufacturing goods before granting import approval.
Testing assesses conformity to standards and specifications often unknown or unavailable to foreigners and not applied equally to domestic products. In 2000, the Ministry of Health further tightened conformity assessment procedures for imported cosmetics products and required expensive testing procedures. The conformity assessment and registration process takes as long as a year to complete and represents the de-facto creation of a new import barrier. Educational Testing Service. U.S. companies providing testing services in China have faced problems with the illegal copying, distributing, and selling of their testing materials.