China: 10 years in the WTO

 On December 11, 2001, China became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Before joining the WTO, China was the sixth largest trading power. And just eight years ago, the country had a meager $10 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI). And in the year it joined the WTO, FDI reached $50 billion.
After becoming a WTO member, Beijing began to rapidly develop the automobile, aviation, securities market, and express delivery industries for foreign manufacturers, financial companies, and service providers. In addition, thousands of laws and regulations were changed to meet WTO requirements.
Before joining the organization, there was much excitement in China about the sustainability of its agricultural sector and domestic companies in industries such as automobiles and banking. Some economists predicted that the WTO would push tens of millions of peasants and laborers into unemployment. Developing countries - exporters - feared that Chinese imports would overwhelm the markets and all investments would go to the Middle Kingdom. Developing countries feared that WTO membership would give China an opportunity to overthrow the liberal trade order.
China's accession to the WTO has in some cases actually created serious problems for developed and developing countries; in other cases, initial fears have been exaggerated. In some cases, WTO member countries have had to increase their investments in global production chains, reduce their incomes, and find new opportunities to export goods to China.
To be continued...

According to the foreign press for ForTrader.org