LIU Heng:China's Ten Years in the WTO:Its Performance and New Challenges

Becoming a member of the WTO in 2001 was a historic event of great significance during the process of China's reform and opening up. Since then, China has steadily pushed forward the reform and opening up policy,proactively seizing the opportunities of economic globalization and positively utilizing the multilateral trading system to develop economic and trade relations with other countries, all of which have contributed to the great economic and social achievements during the first decade of 21st century. However, there are different opinions on China's futuristic role in the WTO, and those disagreements resulting from various interest preferences are not only one-sided and limited, but also triggering off the discussions on the criteria to assess China's performance in the WTO.

This article argues that China's activities in the WTO (i.e.,implementing WTO commitments, participating in the Doha Round negotiation, the dispute settlement and trade policy review) should be a kind of assessment criteria. Based on comprehensive observation of China's performance in the WTO, it is concluded in this article that China's participation in the WTO system and global trade governance extends the scope of world trade law, improves its effectiveness, constitutes China's new contributions to implement treaty obligations ingood faith, resolves peacefully international trade disputes, and maintains substantively the international rule of law. At the same time, it has not only caused new driving forces for international trading system, but also made China face new challenges in the WTO.

CHINA’S TEN YEARS IN THE WTO:ITS PERFORMANCE AND NEW CHALLENGES (with Prof. Yu Minyou)