ABSTRACT
China only became a member state of the United Nations in 1971 with the primary impetus to gain international recognition to break out of its global isolation that had existed since the establishment of its government in 1949. To gain experience in the international political arena, China initially chose to join a couple of international institutions which are more technically oriented rather than politically focused, thus becoming a Contracting State of ICAO in November 1971. An official WTO membership required China to demonstrate its commitment to honouring all WTO rules. Where discrepancy exists, it required China to dismantle its protective trade regime to bring it in alignment with that of comparable WTO member states. The WTO’s multilateral approach to liberalising cross border air transport activities, remains elusive until today.
