Forecasters say WTO entry will bring a 3 percent growth in GDP every year, and a 1 percent increase means 4 million jobs. Around 9.66 million or 3.6 percent of agricultural laborers, 14.5 percent of the employees in the automobile industry and 2.5 percent of the workers building machines and instruments are predicted to be laid off. China's rapidly growing household electric appliance industry stands in stark contrast to the much-protected auto industry. The private sector is still very weak and needs support from the government to survive competition. Besides low-interest loans to promising private companies, the government must help them to exploit markets in the future.
Preparation is now the key.
The State needs to set up more institutes to train workers. It should increase investment in agriculture and remove barriers between regions to lower distribution costs. There is an emerging belief among China's leaders that modernization requires the exposure of Chinese firms to foreign competition and markets. They believe that foreign pressures, well handled, may be converted into incentives to accelerate development. Practice will shortly indicate whether they are right or wrong.