Chapter 73

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a permanent international organization independent of the United Nations. The basic principles and purposes of the organization are to promote the realization of world trade freedom by implementing the principles of market opening, non-discrimination and fair trade. Its predecessor was the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) established in 1947. In 1947, China signed the final document of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment, which created the GATT.China is a contracting party to GATT and a founding member of GATT. On April 1948, 4, China signed the GATT Provisional Protocol.But after the founding of the People's Republic of China, due to the obstruction of the United States, the new China has been free from GATT.Since 21, China has embarked on a long road of rejoining the World Trade Organization (WTO for short).

In September 1982, China applied for observer status in GATT. On July 9, 1986, China formally sent a letter to the Secretary-General of GATT, requesting to resume its GATT membership. In February 7, the China Working Group held its first meeting. On January 11, 1988, the WTO was formally established with 2 members. It replaced GATT and was responsible for managing the implementation of the Uruguay Round package of agreements and managing the world economy and trade order. The WTO headquarters is located in the former GATT headquarters building on the banks of Lake Lemont in Geneva. On January 1995, 1, the WTO formally replaced the GATT provisional body.

On December 1997, 12, the developing country members of the WTO issued a statement in Geneva: they unanimously supported China's entry into the WTO as soon as possible. On April 5, 1998, the seventh meeting of the WTO China Working Group ended in Geneva. The chairman of the working group issued a statement: China’s package of tariff reduction proposals was generally welcomed by members of the working group, which marked meaningful progress in the negotiations. . On April 4, 8, Shi Guangsheng, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of China, and Barshefsky, the U.S. Trade Representative, signed the Sino-U.S. Agricultural Cooperation Agreement in Washington on behalf of the two governments. Prelude. On July 1999, 4, Long Yongtu, vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and chief negotiator of China's accession to the WTO, stated that all major issues of China's accession to the WTO had been resolved.

At 2001:11 on November 11, 19, Shi Guangsheng, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of China, announced that, entrusted by Premier Zhu Rongji of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Shi Guangsheng signed the Protocol on China's Accession to WTO on behalf of the People's Republic of China.Immediately, Shi Guangsheng will submit to the WTO Secretariat the letter of approval for China's accession to the WTO signed by Jiang Zemin, President of the People's Republic of China.So far, the legal procedures for the accession of the People's Republic of China to the WTO have been fully fulfilled.The signature of the Chinese delegation on all the legal documents of "WTO accession" marks that the world's largest developing country has obtained a "right seat" in the world trading system.One month later, according to WTO regulations, China officially became a full member of WTO.

●All united to fight against SARS
In the spring of 2003, the raging SARS (SARS for short) challenged the Chinese nation and the people of the world.A total of 8464 people around the world were infected by SARS, and 812 died.

This sudden disaster has tested the Chinese people, and this war without gunpowder has tempered the national spirit.Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee headed by General Secretary Hu Jintao, the whole country fought against SARS, playing a grand song of solidarity, solidarity and mutual assistance, helping each other, facing difficulties, and daring to win.This is a concentrated expression of the great national spirit in the fight against SARS, and it is also a powerful spiritual force to win the fight against SARS.The whole country, united as one, the great Chinese people finally defeated SARS!

●The launch of Shenzhou V was successful
At 2003:10 on October 15, 9, the Chinese manned spacecraft Shenzhou V (Shenzhou V for short) was successfully launched in Jiuquan, Gansu.After 21 hours and 23 minutes, the spacecraft flew 4 times around the earth and flew 60 kilometers. After flying 10 kilometers, it landed safely at the scheduled main landing area in Inner Mongolia at 16:6 a.m. on October 6. The return capsule successfully opened its parachute when it landed. At 38:[-], Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut, returned triumphantly.After the return module of Shenzhou V landed, its orbital module remained in space to continue to operate. By connecting multiple orbital modules, it is possible to build a space station and carry out space science experiments and applied technology research.

The success of China's first manned spaceflight made China the third country after the United States and Russia to successfully send astronauts into space by its own strength. It shows that China's aerospace technology has reached the international advanced level. Become the world's No. 2004 aerospace power.The Chinese people's dream of flying into the sky for thousands of years has finally come true, and China's international prestige has been greatly improved. In 2003, the China Science and Technology Awards Conference was held in Beijing.Qian Xuesen especially valued Wang Yongzhi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and chief designer of China's manned spaceflight project, who is now over seventy years old. The scientist who realized the Millennium Flying Dream No.1 said: "This is an honor for all astronauts, and I accept this award on behalf of them."

●Opening of Qinghai-Tibet Railway
On December 1973, 12, when Chairman Mao met with the king of Nepal in his later years, he said to the king of a neighboring country across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: "China will build the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, not only to Lhasa, but also to connect with Nepal. to Kathmandu."

In 1984, the Xining-Golmud section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was completed.Golmud, located in the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is regarded as a strategic place connecting Tibet and Xinjiang with Gansu. It is the intersection of several road lines in the west, but laying a railway from Golmud to Lhasa, the city of sunshine, is still a huge project.Fu Zhihuan, Minister of the Ministry of Railways at that time, stated the problems and solutions in the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, saying: We are faced with three world problems, permafrost, alpine hypoxia and environmental protection problems.We have basically solved the world-class plateau permafrost problem: we have a new understanding of the fragile environment on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau... everything is ready to build the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, so the Party Central Committee ordered that the project cost 330 billion yuan Yuan's project finally started on June 2001, 6.

In the process of building the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, solving the worldwide problem has always been a hot spot of concern.The first is plateau hypoxia.The Qinghai-Tibet Railway straddles Hoh Xil and the uninhabited Tanggula Mountains. The oxygen content in most areas is only about 50% of sea level, and the extreme temperature can reach -40°C.115 medical institutions have been set up along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, with more than 600 medical personnel on site, and employees can receive effective treatment within half an hour when they get sick.There are also 17 hyperbaric oxygen chambers built along the route.Due to strong safety measures, no plateau fatal accident occurred during the construction of the railway.

The second is the permafrost problem.Permafrost refers to various rocks and soils that contain ice at temperatures below 0°C.Frozen soil expands in volume in winter, shrinks in volume when it thaws in summer, and the subgrade built on the frozen soil will crack or even collapse.The construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway needs to cross 550 kilometers of permafrost.Many permafrost experts have studied in Northwest China for decades and finally solved this problem.

The third is the environmental problem.The investment for environmental protection in the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is about 11 billion yuan, and 33 wildlife passages have been built along the entire line, and damage to the original vegetation has been avoided as much as possible.

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway runs from Xining City, Qinghai Province to Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, with a total length of 1956 kilometers.Among them, the Xining-Golmud section is 814 kilometers long. It was completed in 1979 and put into operation in 1984.The Golmud-Lhasa section starts from Golmud City in Qinghai Province and goes south along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway to Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The total length is 1142 kilometers, of which 1110 kilometers are newly built.

On July 2006, 7, after five years of hardships, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was fully opened.The grand plan of a generation of great men has come true!Tens of thousands of residents flocked to Lhasa Railway Station, and it was even hard to find train tickets from Beijing to Lhasa and from Shanghai to Lhasa.At a ceremony celebrating the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao called the Qinghai-Tibet Railway "another great achievement in socialist construction."

According to statistics, as of June 2008, 6, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has welcomed and transported 30 million passengers and transported more than 282 million tons of materials into and out of Tibet, injecting strong impetus into the economic and social development of Qinghai and Tibet.

●Comprehensive abolition of agricultural tax
2005年12月29日,十届全国人大常委会No.19次会议今天高票通过决定,自2006年1月1日起废止《农业税条例》,这意味着在中国延续2000多年的农业税正式走入历史。

As a tax collected in rural areas, derived from agriculture and directly borne by farmers, agricultural tax has lasted for 2600 years in China, during which it has undergone five major adjustments and changes: the first was introduced during the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. Labor land rent was changed to the real land rent collected in mu during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods; the second time was the land rent based on the proportion of land production in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and it was changed to the fixed land rent paid according to the amount of land in the Wei, Jin and early Tang Dynasties; the third time was The rent regulation in the Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang dynasties was adjusted to the "Two Taxes Law" in the middle and late Tang Dynasty; The "one-whip method" in the Ming Dynasty was changed to the "spreading into the mu" in the Qing Dynasty, completing the merger of taxes and services.

After the founding of new China, agricultural tax has been an important source of national finance for a considerable period of time. In 1958, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress promulgated and implemented the "Agricultural Tax Regulations of the People's Republic of China", which unified the national agricultural tax system and has continued.Over the past 50 years, China's economic and social conditions have undergone major changes.While establishing a relatively complete industrial system, the gap between agriculture and industry, and rural and urban areas has gradually widened, and the "three rural" issues still restrict China's economic and social development.

Since 2004, 28 provinces in China have exempted agricultural taxes.According to statistics, the exemption of agricultural tax and the removal of agricultural special product tax other than tobacco leaf tax can reduce the burden on farmers by about 500 billion yuan, and about 8 million farmers have benefited this year.On the other hand, China's finances also have the financial conditions to cancel the agricultural tax.Last year, agricultural tax accounted for only 1% of all tax revenues. This year, the remaining agricultural tax and surcharges in the country are only about 15 billion yuan. The abolition of agricultural tax has little impact on fiscal revenue reduction.

However, according to the person in charge of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the abolition of the "Agricultural Tax Regulations" and the abolition of the agricultural tax does not mean that farmers will no longer pay taxes. "If farmers do business or start an enterprise, they still need to pay corresponding taxes." "This is conducive to the unification of urban and rural tax systems."

After the abolition of the "Agricultural Tax Regulations", the state has made corresponding financial arrangements: according to the current system and policies, the agricultural tax is a local tax, and the local fiscal revenue reduced after the cancellation of the agricultural tax will be borne by itself in principle in the developed coastal areas. The central and western regions are subsidized by transfer payments from the central government.Experts said that China's current fiscal revenue situation is fully capable of fully canceling the agricultural tax to provide financial guarantee.

●"Chang'e-[-]" Moon Exploration Palace
The Chinese space age began with the successful launch of the "Dongfanghong-1970" artificial satellite on April 4, 24!Since then, China has successfully launched returnable satellites many times and realized manned flights. In 2007, China set its sights on the distant moon again.

On October 2007, 10, "Chang'e-24" was successfully launched, realizing the interstellar flight from the earth to the moon. The launch of "Chang'e-4" is China's first detection of an extraterrestrial object. "Chang'e-4" clearly puts forward four scientific goals: to obtain a one-dimensional image of the lunar surface; to analyze the distribution characteristics of the content of useful elements and material types on the lunar surface; to detect the characteristics of the lunar soil; to detect the space environment from the earth to the moon.In order to accomplish the four scientific goals, "Chang'e-6" is equipped with 24 sets of [-] scientific detection instruments (also known as payloads), including CCD stereo cameras, laser altimeters, imaging spectrometers, gamma/X-ray spectrometers, and microwave detection instruments. instruments, solar high-energy particle detectors and low-energy ion detectors, etc. The CCD stereo camera is a special camera for taking three-dimensional images of the lunar surface, and it is the first use in China; the gamma/X-ray spectrometer is used to detect elements on the lunar surface; the microwave detector is used to obtain information on the thickness of the lunar soil, and can also give Brightness temperature map of the far side of the Moon and information on the Moon's polar surface.

Compared with the lunar explorations of the Soviet Union and the United States in the 20s and 70s, the "Chang'e-[-]" lunar exploration will be the first time for humans to take a comprehensive three-dimensional photo of the lunar surface, except for some necessary repetitive and confirmatory detection content. .

●The longest cross-sea bridge in the world
On May 2008, 5, the 1-kilometer Hangzhou Bay Bridge opened to traffic from Haiyan County, Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province in the north to Cixi City, Ningbo in the south.

During the construction of the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, Chinese scientific and technological personnel have created many miracles in the history of bridges in the world relying on technological innovation.According to statistics, more than 3 technological innovations have been created during the construction of the bridge for more than 250 years, and independent innovation achievements represented by 9 core technologies have been achieved, and 6 key technologies have reached the international advanced level. History has accumulated an extremely valuable wealth.

(End of this chapter)

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