Examining the twenty years since China acceded to the World Trade Organization, this collection provides an original, systematic assessment of the opportunities and challenges that China has presented to the WTO. Offering in-depth analyses of the 'two-way' relationship between China and the WTO, the contributions explore a range of key issues from the varied effects of WTO membership for China and the global economy to the responses of the WTO members to China's rapid economic growth. It presents diverse perspectives of leading scholars from multiple disciplines, including law, economics, political science, and international relations, as well as practical insights from senior policymakers from both China and the United States. This is an invaluable contribution to ongoing debates about the implications of the rise of China for global economic governance and enriches discussions of the wide-ranging implications of China's growing integration into the multilateral trading system, both now and in the future. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Introduction: China's 20-Year Engagement with the WTO: Opportunities, Challenges, and Responses Henry Gao, Damian Raess and Ka Zeng; Part I. Setting the Stage: Chinese Perspectives on China's Accession to the WTO: 1. 20 Years On: China's Role in the Multilateral Trading System Siqi Li and Xiaozhun Yi; 2. China's Changing Perspective on the WTO: From Aspiration, Assimilation to Alienation Henry Gao; Part II. Political and Economic Implications of China's WTO Membership: 3. Assessing the Impact of WTO Accession on China's Economic Growth: A Synthetic Control Approach Jing Li Ye Liu and Yinggang Zhou; 4. Two Decades of TRIPS in China Peter K. Yu; 5. The WTO and the Rule of Law in China Grant Aldonas; 6. China's Accession to the WTO and its Impact on Global Agricultural Trade Joseph Glauber; 7. China's Use of Export Restrictions and WTO Law: Heading Towards 'Weaponization' of Exports? Iryna Bogdanova and Anqi Wang; Part III. China and Global Trade Governance: 8. Tumult in the Trading System: The China Paradox, Declining US Institutional Power, and the Crisis at the WTO Kristen Hopewell; 9. China's Relations with the Global South in the World Trade Organization Clara Weinhardt; 10. China and the BRICS in WTO E-Commerce and Fisheries Negotiations: Competition and Convergence Wei Liang and Ka Zeng; 11. The Impact of the WTO Dispute Settlement System on China: Effectiveness, Challenges and Broader Issues Weihuan Zhou; 12. China and WTO Reform Bernard Hoekman, Xinquan Tu and Robert Wolfe; Part IV. Responses of China's Trading Partners: 13. The Politics of Preferential Trade Liberalization with China Damian Raess; 14. Trade as a Foreign Policy Issue: A Bilateral Micro Perspective Tanja Schweinberger and Thomas Sattler; 15. The Post-Accession Treatment of Chinese Goods Exports by WTO Members Simon J. Evenett; 16. Small Steps Towards the Next Phase of US-China Trade Relations Simon Lester and Huan Zhu; 17. China's Entry into the WTO – A Mistake by the United States? Jennifer Hillman; Part V. China and Investment Governance: 18. A Comparison of Inbound and Outbound Investment Regulatory Regimes in China: Focus on Environmental Protection Matthew S. Erie and Jingjing Zhang; 19. China's International Investment Agreement Policy: From Rule-taker to Rule-maker? Axel Berger; 20. China and Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Experiences and Prospects Manjiao Chi; 21. Chinese Firms in the US-China Trade War Soo Yeon Kim; 22. Technology Diffusion in the Triangle of China, the West and Developing Countries: The Contribution of Common Concern of Mankind Thomas Cottier.
Henry Gao is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and Professor of Law at Singapore Management University. He sits on the Advisory Board of the WTO Chairs Program and the editorial boards of the Journal of International Economic Law and Journal of Financial Regulation. He has also published Between Market Economy and State Capitalism: China's State-Owned Enterprises and the World Trading System (2022). Damian Raess is a Senior Researcher at the University of Bern specializing in international political economy. He has written extensively on globalization and labor, including China-led globalization. Co-author of the Labor Provisions in Trade Agreements (LABPTA) dataset, he has provided consultant services for analyzing labor provisions in preferential trade agreements for the EFTA, the EU Parliament, and the World Bank. Ka Zeng is Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Director of International and Global Studies at the University of Arkansas. Her research focuses on China's role in the global economy. She is the author or co-author of Trade Threats, Trade Wars (2004), Greening China (2011), and Fragmenting Globalization (2021).
