ABSTRACT
Three decades (1949-79) of China’s self-imposed isolation, followed by two decades (1980-2000) of slow integration into the international economy, precluded one-fifth of the global population from meaningful participation in the global trade and investment systems (Woo 2003). One of the logical extensions of the gradual, but extensive economic reforms unleashed in the country since late 1970s was China’s decision to resume its contracting party status in the General Agreement on Trade and Tariff (GATT) in June 1986.5 Through a tortuous process of one and a half decades of negotiations, China eventually acceded to the WTO in December 2001 (Wang 2011). Admittedly, being the second largest economy of the world,6 China’s integration into the global market was expected to have an enormous impact on both itself and the world’s trading system (Martin and Ianchovichina 2003). Thus, China’s decision to join the WTO gave rise to an intense debate – both at home and abroad – regarding the economic consequences of this very important event.
