Timothy P. Stratford, vice-chairman and general counselor of GM China, said this in Beijing Tuesday at the ongoing 2002 Beijing International Forum on China's WTO Accession.

Stratford held that since China's entry to the WTO, its market environment has become more transparent and standardized, and more like the international market. For example, China's auto market has become easier to access over the past year.

Before China entered the WTO, he said, there used to be concerns that the WTO entry might badly affect the country's local automobile industry. However, facts have proved that the sales of homemade cars in 2002 reached a record high. China's automobile industry has benefited from the country's WTO entry.

He also predicted that the year 2003 would see the country's import tariffs further declining and one or several foreign auto companies might be authorized to conduct auto loans in China. China's laws and regulations relating to the auto market would also become more internationalized and transparent.

(Xinhua News Agency December 18, 2002)