Strengthen the construction of industry associations
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First, The transformation of government functions and the necessity of strengthening the construction of trade associations
After 16 years of marathon-style arduous negotiations, China's WTO accession agreements and multilateral agreements have been fully reached. Only in Doha's vote in November, China's accession to the WTO can be completely resolved. After joining the WTO, China's market economy reform process will continue to deepen. In order to adapt to the government's functions, it can be said that China's accession to the WTO is first and foremost the government's accession to the WTO. After China's accession to the WTO, market opening may have a huge impact on China's agriculture, car, finance and other industries, and may bring macroeconomic problems such as increased unemployment, but the first thing to do is how the government will respond to this major change. Therefore, after the accession to the WTO, the further transformation of government functions faces major challenges.
The most closely related to the publishing industry in the WTO Agreement is the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the General Agreement on Trade in Services, and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. These three agreements are related to the trade related to publishing and printing. General business and copyright issues are regulated. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1994 stipulates that trade in books, audio-visual products and paper, printing equipment and other related products shall comply with the relevant contents of this agreement; printing and publishing shall comply with the relevant provisions of the General Agreement on Trade in Services; And the protection of related rights is subject to the relevant provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
In essence, the above three agreements belong to the 18 Agreements of the World Trade Organization, which must be accepted and observed by all member states. That is to say, since the publication of service trade in international economic and trade activities, the classification of service departments in the WTO agreement does not separate the publishing department, but the services it provides are included in commercial services, communication services and entertainment, culture. Among the sports services. Specifically, the publication and sale of publications are mainly included in commercial services; the production and services of audiovisual products are mainly included in the audiovisual services of the telecommunications services industry; the web publishing is mainly included in telecommunications services in the telecommunications services industry; Content related to publishing services is included in entertainment, cultural and sports services; copyright and related rights protection is included in intellectual property protection.
Although many countries have certain protections for publishing after joining the WTO, in general they cannot be managed as before. China is about to join the WTO, and the publishing industry must face the world. In this transformation, the government must complete the transition from “running the enterprise” to “management enterprise”, from “management micro” to “management macro”, and realize the profound transformation of government functions. Adapt to the relevant requirements of the market economy and the WTO.
Under the conditions of market economy, the government does not interfere with the management of enterprises, and enterprises must operate independently in the market. Therefore, in order to make the development of the whole economy conform to the national economic policies and social goals, it is necessary to establish a relationship between enterprises and governments. One classic The organization is an industry association that does not rely on the government, the combination of rights and responsibilities, and is neither an administrative nor a business.
Second, the history and current status of industry associations (Shanghai)
Industry associations are a bridge between the government and enterprises. On the one hand, they reflect the interests and requirements of the government, affect the government's decision-making, and on the other hand pass the government's decision-making to the enterprise, telling the company what is feasible from a policy perspective. Industry associations must maintain a fair competitive environment in the industry, protect the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises, and coordinate enterprises within the industry. Industry associations should also provide information, technology, external cooperation, vocational training and other services for enterprises.
In 1978, Shanghai's industrial sector established the first industry association in the city - "Packaging Technology Association". In the mid-eighties (1986, 1987, 1988), after the reform of administrative companies, 23 industry associations were formed to make Shanghai The industry associations have gradually grown. In 1989, the central government proposed to vigorously develop industry associations, relying on industry associations for industry management, industry organization and industry planning. In 1994, Shanghai Mayor Huang Ju proposed to speed up the formation of industry associations in line with government institutional reforms (functional changes). In this series of construction, the number and quality of trade associations have been greatly developed, and it has indeed played a role in linking up and down, and cooperating with government agencies to manage the industry.
Specific to the publishing system, in 1986, in the period of the transition of the planned economy to the market economy, in order to solve the problems faced by the publishers, the bureaus of the bureau system “spontaneously” established the “social association” (ie today’s "Publishing Management Association"). After that, the publishing system has successively established ten industry associations including printing industry association, publishing workers association, distribution industry association, newspaper association, journal association, copyright protection association and editorial association, covering publishing, printing, distribution and other related fields. .
In the past 20 years of reform and opening up, the requirements of market economy construction and government institutional reform have promoted the development of industry associations related to publishing. Various industry associations have already played a certain role in the process of reform and development. First of all, it promoted the management of the industry, matched the price and relevant government agencies to determine the price standards of the industry, and strengthened the rules and industry self-discipline. For example, the “Publication Management Association” and the “Printing Industry Association” negotiated and discussed the printing price of two industries. Secondly, the industry organizations have been strengthened, meetings have been held regularly to exchange information, and exhibitions have been organized regularly (for example, the “Publishing Management Association” regularly holds “Shanghai Book Ordering Meetings”), which solves some common problems in the industry. It also promoted the common development of the industry and safeguarded the interests of the industry. In addition, the industry plan is completed, industry information statistics are authorized and delegated by the government, and industry development plans and industry standards are formulated.
Although, since the reform and opening up, in coordination with the reform of government institutions, industry associations have achieved certain development in both quantity and quality, and have played a certain role in the management, organization and planning of the industry, but it should be seen that in the market economy reform Today, as China is about to join the WTO, the government's functions are facing further profound changes. At the same time, the country's development and management of various industries can only be strengthened and cannot be weakened. Strengthen the management, organization and planning of the industry to meet the challenges of the WTO. As far as the current self-construction of industry associations is concerned, it is still far from meeting the needs of the state. Therefore, further strengthening the construction of trade associations is a necessary condition for strengthening the management, organization and planning functions of trade associations, and is in line with the transformation of government functions. basis.
Third, strengthen the construction of industry associations
After the accession to the WTO, the government must change its functions, change the "running enterprises" into "management enterprises", and change the "management microscopic" to "manage macroscopic" to meet the needs of the market economy. In this huge and profound transformation, industry associations must undertake a lot of arduous tasks and strive to become a bridge between the government and enterprises. Therefore, it is extremely urgent to strengthen the construction of industry associations.
In countries with relatively developed industry associations, the main internal functions of mature industry associations are: setting industry standards, promoting exchanges between members, and coordinating the interests of members. In addition, industry associations must have some functions. First, to communicate on behalf of members with governments and consumer groups, this is the most important association function in a mature market economy. For example, it is reported that in order to help China obtain permanent normal trade treatment, the US-China Chamber of Commerce in the United States spent a total of 10 million US dollars to lobby US congressmen and pay for advertising expenses. Obviously, such a high cost is something that a company cannot or does not want to bear. Second, participate in legislation. When it comes to legislation involving specific industries, various industry associations in the industry are always actively involved in legislative activities. On the one hand, they use their own expertise and experience to reduce the legislative cost and implementation cost of the law. On the other hand, they can also maintain The interests of the industry.
In order to complete the major functions of the industry associations, according to our recent research on the Shanghai Industrial and Economic Federation (and its affiliated associations) and the publishing industry's many industry associations, we believe that the industry associations should be further strengthened in the following four aspects. Construction.
1. To correctly understand the nature of industry associations, it is necessary to make industry associations a truly “self-disciplined industry management organization”.
First of all, the industry association is a “self-disciplined industry management organization” that is “voluntarily composed” by independent business units in the industry. In the past, some industry associations were established by the government. This is contrary to the fact that industry associations are the essence of “civil society.” The established industry associations, whether they are personnel or functions within the association, have the taste of government agencies and will definitely affect them. It plays an important role as a bridge between government and business.
On the other hand, industry associations must build non-profit organizations that are “self-disciplined” and cannot lose their impartiality. The purpose of trade associations is to "service": serving the government and serving the enterprise. If the industry associations run their own businesses and engage in business operations, they will inevitably affect the fairness of the trade associations and lose coordination skills for their own interests.
In addition, it is clear that the role of the industry association has not adapted to the inevitable requirements of the development of the market economy. The government functions in many planned economies are actually not conducive to the healthy development of the market economy. The state and the government have already seen this and have made corresponding changes in the reform of government institutions. However, if we only proceed from the vested interests of our own units and even individuals, it is certainly wrong to deny the great role of industry associations under market economy conditions.
Therefore, while actively playing the role of industry associations, we must also prevent two kinds of wrong tendencies. First, we should deny the role of industry associations (putting industry associations aside), and second: industry associations become two governments.
At present, only the management of departmental rules and regulations, the nature of the association, and the nature of the assets of the association are not clear, and the "Society Law" should be issued in a timely manner.
2. Strengthen the service, self-discipline, coordination and supervision of industry associations.
(1) Enhancement of service functions
The purpose of trade associations is to serve: serve the government and serve the enterprise. The role of industry associations is reflected in whether these two service functions are well completed. As far as “serving the government” is concerned, it mainly works in the following four aspects: one is to publicize government policies; the other is to provide information when the government formulates policies; the third is to participate in legislation, reflect industry opinions, and exert professional expertise; The government authorized a special investigation. As far as "serving for the enterprise" is concerned, it is mainly to protect the rights of the industry and provide them with technical, management, management, training, education and other aspects of support. The formation of services can be differentiated according to the specific conditions of each industry, but the purpose of the industry associations serving the enterprises within the industry cannot be changed. For example, it is possible to organize evaluations, selection activities, and hold various intermediary services such as seminars, training sessions, trade fairs, and promotion meetings.
(2) Strengthening industry self-discipline and regulation is the bottom-up of industry associations. If industry associations neglect self-discipline and lose their impartiality, association organizations will not be able to effectively manage the industry and deviate from the goals of the association. For example, the Publishing Business Management Association and Xinhua Bookstore reached an agreement on book discounts, effectively restrained and regulated the publishing units, and rectified the market order.
(3) Cooperate with government departments to strengthen supervision and management of business operations in the industry.
3. Improve the overall quality of industry association personnel to further play the functions of the association and greet the WTO.
To further develop the role of industry associations, human problems are a key issue, and the quality of people is particularly important. The current industry associations have very few full-time staff, mostly retirees, who are too old, and some of them are difficult to take up the responsibility of management industry associations. Some analysts believe that China's industry associations will become the "soft underbelly" after China's accession to the WTO.
China's industry associations have the same historical reasons. China has long engaged in planned economy, the government has long intervened in the economy, and most of the enterprises are state-owned. Therefore, industry associations cannot really develop. The existing industry associations are also some old-age care departments. As in the Shanghai Industrial Association, there are more than 370 employees in 54 members, with an average of less than 7 each, and more than 40% of those over 60 years old. Most of the “heads” are “Pulsatilla”. The shortcomings of this situation will become more prominent after the accession to the WTO.
After joining the WTO, industry associations will become the main force that represents the overall interests of the industry and foreign countries. Learning and mastering the relevant laws and regulations of the WTO, and cultivating professionals with rich professional knowledge are necessary conditions for the development and growth of industry associations.
At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of party organizations in trade associations. Under the new historical conditions, various industry associations will gradually establish party branches to ensure the absolute leadership of the party, so that industry associations can truly play a role between the government and enterprises. The role of the bridge.
4. Strengthen the operation of industry associations and solve practical problems such as financial difficulties.
Industry associations generally pay for their own expenses. About half of the annual expenses come from membership dues, some from corporate sponsorship, and another from services. In order not to lose the fairness of industry associations, industry associations should be decoupled from enterprises. In order to solve practical problems such as financial difficulties, we only rely on the main function of the industry association - service. In fact, only service is eternal. Under the conditions of market economy, all associations should take "prominent services, strengthen cooperation, and do a good job in construction" as their development ideas.
Fourth, the development direction of industry associations
In order to speed up the cultivation and development of trade associations in various industries in China, the relevant state ministries and commissions have specially formulated the discussion papers on "Several Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Associations", stating that the establishment of industry associations must comply with the relevant provisions of the State Council and adhere to the same association in one region. Without repeating the principle of establishment, enterprises can participate on their own initiative. The work of the association should be conducive to the development of the industry and enterprises, and adhere to the principles of autonomy, autonomy and self-discipline. The association should continuously reform, adjust and standardize.
The development of industry associations is inseparable from the purpose of service. At this stage, especially after China's accession to the WTO, the development direction and functions of industry associations should mainly be as follows:
1. Conduct industry research and research, and put forward opinions and suggestions on economic policies and legislation; authorize the government to conduct “analysis” and release industry information;
2. Authorized and entrusted by the government department, participate in the formulation of industry plans, conduct preliminary demonstrations on technological transformation, technology introduction and investment development projects; participate in the formulation of industry standards, organize implementation of industrial production; organize the promotion and application of scientific and technological achievements appraisal;
3. Create publications, conduct consultations, organize talents, technology, and vocational training;
4. Organize exhibition sales, carry out inspections, evaluations, publicity, and promote quality supervision; develop industry public welfare undertakings;
5. Formulate and supervise the implementation of rules and regulations; standardize industry behavior, peer bargaining, and maintain fair competition;
6. Undertake other tasks entrusted by the government and relevant units.
Most of China's trade associations are separated from the government departments by the transformation of government functions from top to bottom. Some functions and some personnel are formed, which has a strong official and semi-official color. The role of Chinese industry associations depends on the degree of separation of government and business. When the government and enterprises are not divided, the industry associations will not work; if the government and enterprises are separated, the industry associations will be dispensable; when the government and enterprises are truly separated, the industry associations can really play their role. With the improvement of the market economic system, the status of China's trade associations will become more and more important.