The impact of China s accession to the WTO, and why China should join the WTO

1. Joining the World Organization can provide new growth opportunities for China's national economic development.

According to estimates by some international organizations, China's accession to the WTO will increase its annual GDP by nearly 3 percentage points, equivalent to more than $30 billion, and bring about 10 million jobs. Some experts have pointed out that after China's accession to the WTO, along with the reduction of tariffs and the liberalization of investment, China's volume will grow rapidly, and it is expected to reach $600 billion by 2005.

2. Joining the World Organization will enable China to strive for a more favorable living environment for its development in the new century. Due to the Asian financial crisis, China will gradually enter a difficult period in attracting foreign capital in the future, and unless new attractions appear, the entry of foreign capital will gradually decline. Accession to the WTO, on the other hand, would mean a major and substantial improvement in the economic environment.

Some experts have pointed out that in Asia, since Singapore and South Korea are no longer considered developing countries, many foreign businessmen may turn to China to invest and set up factories, so this will be of decisive significance in attracting foreign investment.

Third, the contribution to the resolution of the contradiction cannot be ignored. More than 90% of China's foreign trade volume is with WTO members, once friction occurs, often with bilateral political relations as a "mortgage", but has no right to invoke the multilateral dispute settlement mechanism, so in a passive position. The lack of the right to invoke the rights and interests under the Uruguay Round anti-dumping agreements and countervailing agreements also makes China often the primary target of discriminatory antidumping and countervailing duties.

After joining the WTO, thanks to the WTO's arbitration mechanism, unilateral sanctions against China will have an additional channel for appeal, and it will not be just a dumb loss.

Long Yongtu, vice minister of foreign trade and economic cooperation, pointed out a few days ago that China's accession to the WTO will play a great role in promoting China's reform and opening up, and the WTO is an organization that formulates rules for the world economy and the world, and if China can participate in the formulation of these rules, China will have the right to speak on this issue. The WTO will hold a new round of global negotiations. If China fails to resolve the issue of accession before a new round of multilateral negotiations is launched, it will be much more difficult to resolve it in the future, and the new rules will create more demands, and the Chinese economy will pay a greater price for it.

Fourth, it can promote China's relations with other major powers, especially the United States. The deficit between China and the United States has reached or approached the highest record in history. In this case, a mutually acceptable solution must be sought, otherwise the war will be on the verge of breaking out.

Joining the WTO would be a mutually acceptable solution. The normal relations treatment that the United States now provides to China must be reviewed by Congress every year, and there are conditions attached. Therefore, once China joins the WTO, the US Congress will have to repeal the notorious Jewa Amendment.