Li said that for the telecom industry, WTO accession will bring both opportunities and challenges, and the latter will outweigh the former. Two crucial issues will be how to safeguard national security and secrets, and how to ensure universal telecom services.
Chinese experts recommend the following measures.
A firm legal foundation is a prerequisite for administration by the telecom department and for the legal operation of enterprises with foreign investment. Legislation should be a top priority for the telecom industry. Otherwise, compliance with WTO requirements would have no starting point. While foreign telecom enterprises have been merging and restructuring, ballooning in size, China's telecom industry has been undergoing fission due to reforms. Although this has helped stimulate the domestic telecom market and the economy, it will hinder the ability of the industry to handle foreign competition after WTO accession.