중국의 녹색성장 전략과 한·중 무역에 대한 시사점 (China's Green Growth Strategy and Implications for Trade between Korea and China)

Korean Abstract: 중국의 심각한 환경문제는 2013년에 발생한 베이징의 스모그 현상을 계기로 국내외적으로 부각되고 있다. 이에 중국 정부는 과거 양적인 성장에서 벗어나 지속가능한 성장으로 녹색성장 전략을 추진하고 있다. 본 연구는 중국의 녹색성장 정책을 살펴보고, 이를 무역과 연관시켜 무역정책, 무역분쟁, 한‧중 무역 측면에서 분석하였다. 본 연구는 여섯 개의 장으로 구성되어 있다. 서론에 이어서 제2장에서는 중국의 녹색성장 전략에 대한 총괄적인 검토가 이루어졌다. 녹색성장 추진의 이념적‧현실적 배경을 국내외로 나누어 살펴보았고, 이를 바탕으로 녹색성장의 의미를 살펴보았다. 중국 녹색성장을 이해하는 데 있어 중요한 키워드는 바로 경제성장 방식의 전환이다. 중국의 녹색성장 전략은 과거의 경제성장 방식에 대한 반성에서 출발하였으며, 자원절약형․환경우호형 성장으로의 전환은 매우 복잡하고 장기적인 과정이기에 아직까지는 초보적인 단계이다. 따라서 중국의 녹색성장이 본격화되기까지는 장기간의 시간이 필요하며, 경제개혁 정책과 함께 병행될 것으로 판단된다. English Abstract: When the Chinese capital of Beijing was enveloped by unusually heavy smog in 2013, alarms were raised at home and abroad concerning environmental problems facing China. In response, the Chinese government decided on a policy change, making the switch from quantitative to sustainable development, while promoting green growth. This report reviewed Chinese green growth policy overall; and also analyzed trade policy, trade disputes, and Korea-China trade. This report consists of six chapters. Following the introduction, Chapters 2 examine China's green growth strategy. China's promotion of green growth was studied in both domestic and international terms, and accordingly, some features related to green growth were identified. A key point in understanding China's green growth is that it represents a transition in the mode of economic development. China's green growth strategy began with reflections on past mode of economic development. However, it is still in the early stage, as transition to resource-saving or environment-friendly models of development is a comprehensive and time-consuming process. Hence, green growth in China would require more time and appropriate economic reform policy. Chapter 3 discusses Chinese green growth policy and its relation to trade policy, including a review of Chinese environmental regulations and an outline of related trade prohibitions, restriction policies and TBT. Recently, China has deemed free trade to be one of the causes of pollution and restricted trade somewhat to decrease environment pollution. This implies that the number of on trade prohibitions related to environmental pollution increased. Empirical analysis reveals that the export industry of China is still labor-intensive rather than capital-intensive. It is also empirically proven that improvement of environment - the result of environmental regulation policies - actually provide positive impact on export increases. Chapter 4 examines trade disputes related to China's green growth policy. As case studies for Chinese green industry subsidies, countervailing duty of US and EU, along with wind power equipment subsidy case of the WTO, were analyzed. According to the analysis, grants, preferential policy loan and price under the production element were the main types of subsidies that US and EU protested against in applying countervailing duties. On the other hand, wind power equipment subsidy case of WTO showed the nonfulfillment of subsidy notification can bring about lawsuits. Recent countervailing duty towards polysilicon of US and EU is an expression of the Chinese government's strong willingness to respond to countervailing duties utilized by developed countries. Chapter 5 includes analysis of environmental products in Korea-China trade. Import statistics data from China Customs was utilized in order to understand environmental products imported for domestic use. In 2012, the import market for environmental products was 18.17 billion USD and domestic use accounted for 34.3% of the total, or 6.25 billion USD. According to analysis of collaborative cases, it is suggested that Korean companies engage in joint venture with local companies to learn the Chinese system before switching to become an independent entity at a later date. Implications of the Chinese green growth strategy to Korea and Korean policies in response are as follows. First, Chinese adoption of green growth strategies is inevitable but would involve a long, drawn-out process. Hence, Korean companies should strengthen competitiveness and simultaneously prepare for further environmental restrictions in the long term. In addition, during FTA negotiations, the Korean government should push for diversification of bidding, and also discussion on methods for sharing green funds and appeals. Second, the Korean government should prepare for green industry disputes Korea might become involved in. Factors that can cause disputes should be identified ahead of time to avoid the disputes between major trading counters. Multilateral action at the WTO level must be considered to ensure that China its obligations for subsidy notification, in order to raise awareness on Chinese subsidies in the green industry. In case Korea is targeted with excessive countervailing duties, Korea should actively utilize the WTO disputes settlement system. Third, the Korean government should provide support for the Korean environmental industry to develop a niche market where it has comparatively high competitiveness. This should include financial and management support, and matching service with outstanding local companies. Moreover, the government needs to negotiate issues such as simplification of customs procedures, customs and duty-free imports with the Chinese government. Last, cooperation channel among environmental experts and trade professionals should be created at the government level to share information and establish a specific mechanism to resolve environment and trade conflicts.