As recently as the early 1990s, residents in major cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, had to queue for an hour just to make a simple phone call. Just five years ago a trip to the post office or bank meant waiting more than an hour to deal with incredibly rude and unhelpful functionaries who clearly resented every minute they spent there.
Today, the transformation brought about by persistent privatisation and increasing competition in the services industries is evident in virtually every aspect of daily life.
Gone are the armies of bored supermarket attendants with no idea of the products on shelves behind them. Gone too are the angry scowls on the faces of bank tellers, replaced by helpful smiles.
The country's entry into the WTO, and the subsequent deregulation and opening to foreign companies, is the key driver of the change. From banking and insurance to retail and logistics, mainland service providers have been forced to upgrade quality, efficiency and service standards to meet the challenge from the world's best. Beijing's WTO accession commitments in the services sectors are viewed as possibly the most comprehensive in the history of the organisation. Probably the most significant concessions Beijing made were in the distribution sector, retail and financial services, according to David Weller, of the Wilmer Hale law firm and former US trade envoy to China.
But, he said, there are still lots of gaps. The media and publishing sectors remain tightly controlled and restricted which, in turn, leaves room for a thriving market in pirated goods.
And the WTO accession agreement barely mentions the securities and asset management sectors, where foreign companies remain restricted to minority stakes.
