Related stories

"Strategic Beachhead" of Foreign Investors to Occupy China's Architectural Decoration and Design Market Many Things to Learn from Beijing Interview with British Ambassador to China Sir William Ehrman Call for Toilets in Business Venues to Open to Public What's love to got to do with it? The vagaries of Valentine's Day in China World's Most Beautiful Books to Come to China

China to Open Advertising Market

China will open its advertising market by the end of 2005, said a Chinese official on September 8. Wang Zhongfu, Director of the General Administration for Industry and Commerce, was speaking at the 39th World Congress of the International Advertising Agency (IAA).

China will keep its promise to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to open its advertising market, he said.

China was required to permit foreign advertising companies to set up jointly funded companies in China by the end of 2003. The top 10 advertising companies in the world have each set up jointly-funded companies since then.

The regulations also stipulate that within four years of China's entry to the WTO, foreign advertising companies can establish wholly-funded branches in China.

The Chinese government has also provided opportunities for foreign advertising companies to reap huge profits in China, Wang said.

"Opening the market is also conducive to the development of China's advertising industry and its exchanges with foreign counterparts," he said.