The impact of the World Trade Organization on the Chinese legal system

Report

It is still early days to appreciate fully the effects of China’s World Trade Organization (WTO) accession in 2001. As China becomes more accustomed to WTO rules and regulations, it will also adopt a more thorough compliance with the spirit of the WTO agreements.

While there is still a long way to go, the track record of China’s implementation has been generally favourable. This is most evident in the absence of disputes with China before the Dispute Settlement Mechanism, the judicial arm of the WTO.

However, since many of the WTO commitments are broad and vague in anticipation of further definitions, member states’ expectations tend to exceed these commitments, and whilst China has attained a good basic level of compliance, it will face increasing pressure from the international community to go further still.

Authors: Kobayashi, Y

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Foundation for Law, Justice and Society
• Series: Rule of Law in China: Chinese Law and Business
• Place of publication: http://www.fljs.org/content/rule-law-china-publications
• Publication date: 2007-01-01
• Edition: Publisher's version
• Language: English
• Keywords: China; World Trade Organization
• Subjects: Socio-legal studies; Asia; Public international law; Macro and international economics