ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses important issues relating to the development of China's banking sector and securities industry in the expectation of its imminent accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). In November 1999, following difficult and protracted negotiations, a major breakthrough occurred when China reached a bilateral agreement with the United States on membership of the WTO. This event promised to have major implications for the opening up of the banking and securities sectors, and it generated, during the following months, a heated debate among Chinese analysts about the ability of these sectors to survive and compete in an open market. In the wake of such debate, many policy proposals have been put forward - and some have already been adopted - in an effort to combat the supposedly negative impact of WTO accession on banking and securities activities in China. It is against this background that this paper seeks to provide a synthesis of the most important relevant issues in an attempt to give an overview of China's banking and securities industry on the eve of its accession to the WTO.
