| Although general economic reforms had been initiated in China in 1978, for more than a decade China's telecommunications industry was largely untouched and remained an administrative monopoly. As a result of ongoing overall reforms, as well as interactions between internal and external forces, China started to reform its telecommunications regime in the early 1990s. In a relatively short period, fundamental changes have taken place in a number of key areas, including regulation, market access, competition, foreign investment and the like.; As a milestone in the reforms, the Chinese government in 2000 promulgated the Telecommunications Regulations, which went a long way to meet WTO standards, set out fundamental competition rules and cleared away obstacles that barred foreign and private investment from entering the telecommunications sector. In the past few years, a number of important rules covering various regulatory issues have also been made, including the long awaited Regulations on the Administration of Foreign Invested Telecommunications Enterprises . In the mean time, the Chinese government continues the process of drafting a comprehensive Telecommunications Law, which is expected to be passed by the People's Congress in 2003.; In studying China's telecommunications reforms, this thesis applied a Public Choice Plus theory, which analyzes interactions between various discrete factors or forces in policy-making, and in particular, the roles of interests, ideology, technology, ideas, institutions and the internationalization of markets. Chapter One outlines the analytical framework to be applied in subsequent chapters. Chapter Two studies the development of competition over the past decade, including the emergence of new competitors, institutional restructuring and the two rounds of break-up of China Telecom. Starting with a general discussion of the relationship between the WTO and telecommunications services, Chapter Three examines the decisive role of the WTO in gradually lifting China's restrictions on foreign direct investment and its impact on telecommunications regulation. Chapter Four discusses how to establish an effective, pro-competitive regulatory system in China. Chapter Five concludes the thesis by weighing all the factors discussed in the Public Choice Plus theory in the policy-making process of China's telecommunications reforms, an understanding of which is key to the success of further reforms. |
