But an agreed timetable would mean more certainty for businesses. Uncertainty is bad for investments as it makes long term planning difficult. The current WTO accession talks do not address very much these problems. To the extent that foreign investors in general become more optimistic about China's medium term economic prospects, there would also be more business interest in China and more investments. The other side of liberalization is the increased pressure on the Chinese enterprises in general.
Enterprises have to restructure, modernize and get to their senses faster if they want to survive.
Those unable to do so will have to face the inevitable. In the long run, this is very important to China. But in the short-term, there will be more bankruptcies and more unemployment. There will also be more mergers and acquisition in the corporate scene in China. In the long term, the significance of WTO for China is the added impetus on domestic reform and institutional transformation.