World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/C/W/266
19 September 2005 (05-4120) Council for Trade in Services Original: English

Communication from AUSTRALIA

Transitional Review Mechanism in connection with Paragraph 18 of
the Protocol on the Accession of the People's Republic of China

The following communication, dated 14 September 2005, from the delegation of Australia is being circulated to the Members of the Council for Trade in Services.
As noted in the recent statement by a number of Members interested in the liberalisation of telecommunications services (TN/S/W/50), open markets for telecoms services encourage investment, promote economic development and stimulate innovation and the availability of telecoms services at competitive prices.
Will China please indicate (i) how many new domestic operators and (ii) how many foreign invested operators have been licensed to provide VAS since the last Transitional Review Mechanism?
Australian architects and engineers wishing to provide project management services in China are therefore required to qualify under Circular 200 in one of these six disciplines – which, in effect, requires them to be licensed in China as a “construction” company pursuant to MOC Decree 113.
For example, engineers or architects may find it very difficult to qualify as “construction” companies – even though they may be well qualified to provide the relevant project management services in their area of expertise.