A Decade Of China At The WTO

Henry Gao an Associate Professor at the School of Law, Singapore Management University writes in a post to China Lis Law….


This year marks the 10th anniversary of China’s accession to the WTO.

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For those of you who are interested in the interaction between China and the WTO, you might find my following two articles useful:

1. China?s Experience in Utilising the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism, in?in Gregory Shaffer & Ricardo Mel?ndez-Ortiz (eds.), Developing Countries and WTO Dispute Settlement

http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item5634876/?site_locale=en_GB ,

Oxford University Press, Nov 2010, pp. 137-173.

2. China?s Ascent in Global Trade Governance: From Rule Taker to Rule Shaker, and Maybe Rule Maker?, in Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck (ed.), MAKING GLOBAL TRADE GOVERNANCE WORK FOR DEVELOPMENT

http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item6441753/?site_locale=en_GB#
Oxford University Press, 2011. This title will be available this summer. Below is a para from the introduction section:

As China enters its tenth year of WTO Membership, has the dragon brought a ?reign of fire? to the multilateral trading system and rocked its institutional foundations? This paper will answer this question by reviewing China?s participation in two key activities of the WTO, i.e., trade negotiations and dispute settlement, as well as another important component of global trade governance: regional trade agreements (RTAs). I will argue that, overall, China has evolved from a passive ?taker? of the existing rules to a country that will ?shake? the rules for its own interests or even ?make? new rules. At the same time, the pace of China?s ascent has been uneven in different areas; the most aggressive strategy has been apparent in RTA negotiations, where China has been on a frantic shopping spree since its accession to the WTO. Similarly, while China was initially reluctant to use the multilateral dispute settlement system, it has become a major player since 2007. In terms of multilateral trade negotiations, China has been sending mixed signals: while it has made many
submissions on negotiating issues in the Doha Round of WTO negotiations, China has so far successfully resisted calls from the US and EU for it to play a leading role in the long-stalled trade talks. After exploring the reasons for varying behavioral patterns in a range of areas, the chapter concludes by exploring China?s future role in the WTO, as well as the potential ramifications of China?s ascent in global trade governance.

Unfortunately neither of the two are available on SSRN as I’ve been having numerous posting problems and just gave up. However for those of you who wish to know more, please feel free to contact me directly.