Publisher's Synopsis
China's accession to the World Trade Organisation in December 2001 was an historic event and it initiated a great experiment to see whether a country with a rapidly expanding economic base but with an economy that still reflects significant state involvement in decisions of resource allocation would mesh with the WTO's rules-based system and other trading partners' generally market-oriented economies. China worked hard to make significant changes to its legal and regulatory system before WTO accession and has continued its efforts to comply with the obligations and commitments it assumed in its accession agreement. This book takes a look at the first two years of China's membership in the WTO and attempts to assess the level of China's WTO compliance achieved to date and the problems that remain ahead. In particular, the book examines: China's modification to its laws and regulations, China's participation in WTO committee work, and technical assistance programs available to China from the WTO, the US and other member nations; How effectively the WTO's first and second Transitional Review Mechanisms have operated; The US-China bilateral relationship and structures in place for discussion of US-China trade issues and major WTO compliance issues; The monitoring of China's WTO compliance by the US government and private sector groups, as well as a survey of the important compliance issues that arose in the first two years of China's WTO membership; The use made by the US of transitional rights outlined in China's accession agreement, in particular, the textile and product-specific safeguards, and the non-market economy methodology used in antidumping proceedings concerning products from China.
