ABSTRACT
On December 11, 2001, China formally became a member of the WTO. Its first aim in joining the organization was to align the country with the trend of economic globalization and more actively participate in the international division of labor. In the context of further opening, accession to the WTO could propel China’s economy forward and improve the material and cultural lives of the Chinese people. Its second aim was to create mutually beneficial conditions for international trade and thereby to expand imports and exports. The third was to realize China’s comparative advantage in abundant labor resources and to enable China and other countries to draw on each other’s strengths. The fourth was to create a more favorable policy environment and more standardized systems for foreign investment coming into the country, and thereby expand the volume and scope of foreign investment. The fifth was to come up to the demands of participation in international economic operations and thereby push forward China’s reform of its economic system, thereby improving the new systems required by a socialist market economy.
