Trade Liberalization in China's Accession to WTO

Abstract

China’s forthcoming accession to the WTO involves reforms across a wide range of sectors in China, both in directly trade-related sectors and behind the border. The implications of these reforms are greatly influenced by the starting point—a partially reformed economy with relatively high import duties, but in which export sectors benefit from liberal duty exemptions on their inputs. The paper takes account of this special feature in assessing the implications of reform. We find that China and its major trading partners gain from accession, while some competing countries suffer smaller losses. The adjustments required are greatly reduced by the dramatic liberalization that China undertook in the 1990s.