After 18 years of lengthy negotiations, Russia finally joined the World Trade Organization as it wished. As the world’s sixth-largest economy, Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization will have a profound impact on the pattern of world trade and investment. Just as Pascal Lamy, the WTO Director General, commented that this means opening up new trading opportunities for the world, the WTO will now cover 97% of the world's total trade volume.

Then, what kind of impact will Russia have on its own as a member of the WTO? Luo Baihui, a special research fellow at the China International Economic Development Research Center, pointed out that WTO accession will not only help Russia's further integration into the world economic integration process, help the Russian economy develop in a healthy and stable manner, but also create new opportunities for promoting the development of international trade and the establishment of a multilateral trade mechanism.

The first is active import and export trade. After joining the WTO, Russia’s overall tariff level will be reduced from the current 10% to 7.8%, and imported goods will flow more smoothly into the Russian market. At the same time, WTO members will also lift restrictions on the import of Russian products, clearing the way for Russian goods to enter the international market. As Kuderlin, former Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, said, joining the WTO will help Russia develop export trade. After Russia's accession to the WTO, the EU will cancel its import quotas for Russian metallurgical products. Russian economic circles believe that after joining the WTO, Russian steel and chemical companies will directly benefit from export trade. In addition, Russia can also use WTO rules to improve product export structure and increase the added value of export products. For example, after joining the World Trade Organization, Russia will impose quotas on the export of unprocessed timber. This will undoubtedly help promote the development of Russian wood processing companies and expand the export of deep-processed wood products.

The second is to obtain equal trade status. After joining the World Trade Organization, Russia will end the long-term situation that is detached from the world trade management, organization, and coordination mechanisms, which will help eliminate trade discrimination and achieve equal trade status. Russian experts also believe that after Russia’s accession to the WTO, Russia will be able to use the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism to secure legitimate rights for Russian goods in the international market and avoid unnecessary losses. Igor Jergens, the vice chairman of the Russian Federation of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, believes that accession to the WTO can effectively prevent Russia from imposing anti-dumping sanctions on Russia’s commodities. This can reduce losses of USD 2 billion a year.

The third is to help attract foreign direct investment. The accession to the WTO will push Russia to regulate the market order and increase the confidence of foreign capital in the Russian business environment. On the one hand, Russia will begin to act according to the rules of the world, which means that Russia's foreign economic policies, especially trade policies, will be more clear. On the other hand, the WTO agreement on trade and investment measures and the General Agreement on Trade in Services, especially on market access such as intellectual property rights, trade and investment, and goods and services, will push Russia to create a more transparent and convenient business investment environment. In addition, joining the WTO will also provide opportunities for Russian companies to enter the European market, accelerate the two-way flow of capital and technology between Russia and other countries, and push Russia to accelerate the pace of economic transformation and upgrading.

Of course, Russia’s accession to the WTO also requires a price. This is also the reason why Russia has had various arguments and disagreements on whether to join the WTO for a long time. The objections include mainly that opening the country will weaken the independence of Russia’s economic policies; accepting WTO rules will mean opening up the market, reducing or eliminating tariffs, reducing state subsidies, and allowing foreign companies to participate in national procurement bidding, which will make it difficult for some companies to survive. Even bankruptcy, increased unemployment and so on. For example, the sensitive issues involved in many years of negotiations, including agricultural subsidies, automobile assembly standards, timber import and export taxes, financial and insurance market opening, etc., Russia has not found a good solution until now, can only say that it is first to make concessions , and then deal with it as appropriate.

In any case, most people think that the negative effects of the WTO accession on the Russian economy are controllable and affordable. The main reasons are as follows. First, the reduction in Russia’s tariff level is gradual, and Russian companies have time and ability. Digestion. Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization Information Agency and professor Botansky of the Higher School of Economics stated that after joining the WTO, except for the immediate reduction of import tariffs that were raised in response to the international financial crisis from 2008 to 2009, most other imports The tariffs for goods will remain unchanged for the time being. Second, just as former Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Kudrin believes that the stronger ruble exchange rate policy implemented by Russia for more than a decade has actually lowered the barriers for foreign imports, and the exchange rate policy The impact on Russian companies is much stronger than Russia’s concessions to meet the WTO conditions. Third, Russian companies will still be favored when they compete for Russian government purchase orders. Fourth, Russia’s financial industry is performing steadily. It can provide strong support for the real economy.

Russia’s accession to the WTO is an inevitable choice. This not only conforms to Russia’s economic and strategic interests, but also helps to further close economic and trade cooperation between emerging economies and BRICS countries, and provides fresh impetus for the establishment of a new international economic order. Luo Baihui's analysis pointed out that after joining the WTO, Russia will gradually integrate into the global economy and the trade environment will be more stable, which will surely bring a new round of prosperity to China-Russia trade. In particular, it is worth mentioning that the fast-growing Russian rubber and plastics machinery market has attracted much attention internationally. The entry into the WTO era of the Russian market will bring new export opportunities to China's rubber and plastics machinery companies.

According to the WTO accession agreement, Russia’s overall tariff level will be reduced from 10% in 2011 to 7.8%, of which the overall tariff level of agricultural products will be reduced from the current 13.2% to 10.8%, and the overall tariff level of industrial finished goods will be adjusted from 9.5% to 7.3%. Since the date of accession to the WTO, Russia is obliged to implement the new tariff system for more than 1/3 of the import and export tax items, and another 1/4 of the tax items will be adjusted within 3 years.

At present, the main importers of the Russian rubber and plastic machinery market are Germany, Italy and Ukraine, and China ranks fifth. With the reduction of tariffs, as a neighboring country to Russia, the Chinese rubber and plastics machinery industry will benefit greatly from the perspective of geographic convenience and cost-effectiveness. In addition to the reduction of tariffs, Russia’s accession to the WTO will also bring long-term benefits to China's rubber and plastics machinery industry. This is mainly reflected in the following two aspects: First, the investment environment in Russia is further improved, and it is expected to attract more foreign auto and tire manufacturers to build. The factory will drive the demand for rubber and plastic machinery. Second, under the constraints of WTO rules, the Russian customs administration system will be more standardized and legal. Trade disputes are also expected to be resolved more effectively. This will undoubtedly promote bilateral trade cooperation between Russia and China. Rubber and plastic machinery manufacturers can more easily export their own products.

In recent years, the Russian rubber and plastics machinery market has developed rapidly and the scale has reached 300 million to 400 million U.S. dollars. The potential for future development is huge. At present, Russia has more than 2,000 companies involved in rubber and plastic processing, 45% of rubber and plastic machinery used in 10 to 20 years, 25% more than 20 years, equipment needs to be updated. In addition, there is great room for growth in the demand for plastic products, which will certainly increase the demand for rubber and plastics machinery market. With the rapid development of the Russian food industry, the demand for plastic packaging materials has increased correspondingly; the demand for plastic products in building materials, sporting goods, stationery and the automotive industry has continued to grow.

In addition, China's tire exports to Russia will also usher in a new opportunity. Russia is a country with large demand for tires. In particular, Russia’s demand for tires has increased significantly during the process of revitalizing the economy. At the same time, Chinese tire exports have a strong price advantage and are more suitable for the current Russian market. Since 2005, various Chinese automobiles have entered the Russian market in batches, which has also driven the attention of the Chinese tire industry to the Russian market.