ABSTRACT
China's application for membership of GATT and the new World Trade Organisation has already been on the table for more than a decade. Such has been the speed of China's trade and economic growth and China's integration into the international economy that some have even begun to wonder whether membership of the WTO will significantly affect China's opportunities in the international economy and whether the costs and disciplines of WTO membership might be avoided without compromising the benefits from growing Chinese trade and its effect on rising Chinese incomes.
