Beijing, 11 December 2021 (TDI): China is celebrating today its 20th anniversary of joining the World Trade Organization (WTO). It joined WTO on December 11, 2001.
China started its reforms in the late 1970s under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping. It started opening up to other countries and began establishing relations with the other states.
China officially applied for the WTO in 1986 when it was known as General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The negotiations for the Chinese membership continued for 15 years. The negotiations were centered on multilateral trade, market access, and intellectual property rights.
GATT was modified into WTO in 1995. China became an observer state of the newly created WTO. The negotiations continued for the membership of China.
Till 2001, China concluded its negotiations with several countries including the United States. Finally, in 2001 China became a member of the global trade body which stimulated its economic development. China got accession to the WTO during the Ministerial Conference of WTO in Doha, Qatar. With the agreement, China became the 143rd country to be part of the WTO.
China as a Member of WTO
By becoming a member of the WTO, China saw unprecedented growth in its trade which accelerated its economic growth in the world.
China has become one of the major economic power in the world by becoming part of the WTO. It has been now contributing 30% of the economic growth annually. It has been ranked number one in the global ranking of trade. It is the largest trading partner of 120 countries in the world. Chinese Foreign Trade volume equals 13% of the global trade.
Chinese opening-up in the world not only helped its economy but it helped other countries also. China believes in win-win cooperation has been helping other countries mutually.
China to become a member of the WTO changed or amended about 190, 000 laws and policies at the local level. China has lowered the tariff rate to 7.4 percent from 15.3 which is lower than the 9.8 accession commitment of the WTO.
China has the biggest population in the world which provides massive opportunities for trade to other countries. China has been providing relief to the exporters to China by offering zero-tariff to 97 % of the taxable items exported to China. Therefore, everyone in the world tries to get more and more benefits from China, the biggest market in the world.
The world especially WTO appreciates the efforts of the Chinese government for free trade. China is also committed to providing free trade opportunities to the world. China has enjoyed great benefits since joining the WTO. It has also become the 2nd biggest economy In the world. It will continue to get benefits from the win-win gains of the WTO.
