China Opens Doors to Counties

In photo at right: NACo President Randy Johnson briefs top Chinese leader, Wang Guangying, about members of the NACo delegation and their counties. Wang is vice chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress. The NACo delegation had a formal meeting with Wang at The Great Hall of the People.
Photo by Maureen Reeder

Recently I led a delegation of elected county officials to China - the first such group ever invited by the Chinese government through the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

At a time when more responsibilities are being transferred from central national governments to the state and local level throughout the world, we were invited to see first hand the dramatic changes going on in China and its system of elected county government.

While in China, we met with the vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the China National People's Congress, the nation's highest legislative authority; the vice president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade; and top local and provincial officials in Beijing, Xi'an, Suzhou, and Shanghai.

We visited business and industrial sites such as the Xi'an airport factory, which make wings and tail assemblies for Boeing planes, toured the highly publicized Pudong Economic Development Zone and the new Suzhou Industrial Park. I also spoke about the changing role of local government in economic development and trade at the annual conference of the World Trade Center Association in Hong Kong.

We found locally elected officials in China and the United States face many of the same problems. When I asked local leaders whether the Chinese central government ever required them to provide specific services but did not transfer the money to pay for them, all of the Chinese laughed immediately and nodded energetically as soon as the question was translated. There was no need to translate the response.

We also learned that there are sometimes conflicting priorities between national and local governments in China, just as in the United States. For example, the Chinese national government is making a huge investment to build a major automobile industry that will produce three million units annually by the year 2000 (60 percent of current U.S. production.) and put more vehicles on their roads. Meanwhile, local leaders are trying to reduce incredible traffic congestion by discouraging automobile use through odd/even license plates/days systems, lane restrictions, limited hours, transit subsidies, etc. In Beijing, the local government is even trying to reduce congestion by discouraging bicycle use!

The visit by President Jiang Zemin to the United States last month focused attention on the debate between those who favor strong sanctions against China to curb human rights violations, and others who want to expand trade and work for change from inside.

My own view is that a policy of constructive engagement while focusing world attention on human rights will do more than sanctions and isolation to improve the situation and encourage a freer economy than isolation.

It is also clear that if the United States does not provide the goods and services to build China's basic infrastructure and meet pent-up consumer demand, companies from other countries are already there to do so. United States companies will later face a steep uphill struggle to gain product acceptance and meet different standards established by others.

After having been outlawed for so long, we saw that free-market capitalism is rushing rapidly through China, especially in the larger cities. But there are still government restrictions on information and what types of businesses people can start, and quite strict regulations on import and export. There are also many issues remaining for privatizing 340,000 state-owned enterprises, who will control the assets and how the "red chip" stocks should be valued.

Many U.S. businesses say dealing with China is frustrating because of government controls. Tariffs and government restrictions are major barriers to selling U.S. goods in China, but the massive privatization of industry now underway creates an explosion of opportunity. We must continue to build relationships and trust - our NACo exchange mission is anothr important step to building these relationships.

Many Chinese officials stressed to us their desire for membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). While great progress has been made, I believe the United States must continue to insist upon non-tariff barrier removal, economic liberalization, open government procurement, and full concordance with WTO trading principles before supporting China's membership application.

We also found that we can learn from the Chinese in providing services and administering government. For example, Suzhou - China's ancient "silk city" - recently opened an extraordinary well-planned industrial park. A foreign-owned manufacturing business locating there can obtain all government permits in just two weeks.

At the 600-bed Shu Guang Hospital in Shanghai, we witnessed the practice of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) including acupuncture and herbal remedies, which are leading to the development of new pharmaceutical compounds in the United States

During the two weeks in China, I cannot recall anybody even mentioning the basic tenets of communism and central economic planning during the whole two weeks we were in China. What we heard was, "When it comes to economics and development, we want to do what works and we want to do it quickly."

The Chinese call their system "socialism with Chinese characteristics," but it looked a lot like capitalism to me!

This trip was an important first step for county officials and for NACo in learning more about the country that is changing rapidly and is home to one-fourth of the world population. Next year NACo, will host a group of elected Chinese county officials who will come to see how local government is administered in the United States and how we work to encourage local business growth.

I believe, to the core of my soul, that exchanges such as these at the local level will do so much more for understanding between our countries and human rights conditions, than any policies of isolation. I hope that this exchange program will become a premiere example of peace through understanding and progress through trade.

The NACo delegation included President-elect Betty Lou Ward; NACo First Vice President C. Vernon Gray; Hennepin County (Minn.) Commissioner Mark Andrew; Jefferson County (Ky.) Clerk Rebecca Jackson; Palm Beach County (Fla.) Commissioner Carol Roberts; Jacksonville-Duval County (Fla.) Council Member Terry Wood, and NACo Executive Director Larry Naake.