China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), formally approved in December 2001 after 15 years of negotiation, will have a profound impact on the country's domestic situation, but also on the international community. The present volume seeks to offer valuable insights into the consequences of this historic event, both from the perspective of China and of its European partners. The book brings together expertise from scholars, policy-makers and representatives of corporate business, presenting a systematic examination into the interlocking nature of international and domestic forces. Insight into the complex dynamics of the accession process is offered by EU and Chinese representatives with hands-on experience in the international negotiations. Representatives from key economic sectors and social scientists then discuss the domestic impact of China's membership of the WTO, analyzing the economic challenges and opportunities as well as the political, social and legal implications. Both the calculated optimism of business and the calculated pessimism of academia are thus mitigated to produce a realistic assessment of future prospects.
Opening up the internation perspective once more, economists assess the consequences of China's WTO membership for global trade and investment flows for the EU and Greater China, and look at China's future role in the WTO. Different from most Western analysis of China's accession to the WTO which has tended to highlight the implications for China-US relations, the present study focuses on the consequences for the future relations between China and the EU. This volume, rich in statistics, will be of particular interest to experts and government policy-makers involved in China's current affairs, but also to members of the business community who need to be able to better gauge the risks and opportunities arising out of China's further integration into the global economic framework. The book's unusually comprehensive picture of the potential economic, political, social and legal implications of China's WTO accession will make it worthwhile reading for all those interested in the fascinating, and sometimes vexing, process of China's transformation.