A SENIOR Guangdong official yesterday warned that the province faced a challenging year in the face of growing protectionism and the possibility of China's re-admittance to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
Planning Commission Director and Vice-Governor Zhang Gaoli said his report on economic and social development planning in Guangdong showed that as China opened its doors wider, Guangdong's advantages of policy, technology and products available were gradually eroding.
Mr Zhang noted that global protectionism and China's eventual re-admission into GATT would influence the province's export potential.
''There will be a new pattern in which internal competition will be more intense, and external challenges will be more severe,'' he said.
Mr Zhang said Guangdong should seriously study problems that would emerge once the country had rejoined GATT, and act to improve its technology and adopt international standards.
''We should actively employ new skills, new equipment, new technology to develop new products,'' he said.