The economic history of the last half century will be dominated by several extraordinary chapters. Among the most prominent of these will be the reconstruction and economic integration of Europe, the spectacular rise of Japan and the Asian tigers, the impact on world commerce of the internet, and most recently the integration of China into the world economy. An important part of the China story is that country's joining the World Trade Organization (the "WTO"). For in this one step China decided to commit itself to continuing and expanding a program of economic reforms as sweeping, if not more fundamental, as any ever attempted by any nation at any time in history.
The underlying economic reforms began in earnest in 1978 when Deng Xiao Ping began an opening to the world for his country as spectacular as that achieved by Commodore Perry for Japan over a century earlier, but one decided in this case by the government of the country in question, rather than forced from outside. What Deng chose as the path for China the Chinese Government formalized by its Accession to the WTO on December 11, 2001.
So much liberalization has been accomplished in so short a period of time, that it may seem uncharitable to focus too much on shortcomings. But China is not an ordinary player in the world trading system, and vastly different than the usual newly-acceding WTO member. China is the fifth largest trading partner of the United States. For China, the United States is the largest trading partner overall, and the largest market for its exports. Japan is the largest supplier of its imports. China is among the top markets for many of the world's products - automobiles (fourth largest), cell phones (first), and semiconductors (third)[6] to cite just a few examples. China is the third largest trading entity in the WTO. So the obligations it undertakes and is willing to further undertake matter to the world trading system.
