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China and World Trade Organization(WTO)
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China was one of the contracting parties to the General Agreement of
Tariffs and Trade (GATT, predecessor of WTO) which was founded in 1948. The
Taiwan authorities illegally renounced China's membership in GATT in 1958 and
became a GATT observer in 1965. The UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758
in 1971, expelling the Taiwan authorities from the United Nations and restoring
the legitimate rights of the People's Republic of China. In November of the same
year, GATT nullified Taiwan's observer status on the basis of the
above-mentioned UN resolution. China formally applied for the restoration of its
contracting party status in GATT in 1986 and the Working Party on China was set
up by GATT in 1987 to deal with the related issues. In 1994, China put forward a
package of negotiation plans and conducted comprehensive negotiations with all
the parties concerned, but the goal of reentering GATT was not achieved. The
GATT Working Party on China convened 19 meetings totally.
WTO was
established on 1 January 1995. China formally became its observer on 11 July of
the same year. The Working Party on China's accession to the WTO replaced the
Working Party on China's status as a contracting party of GATT in December 1995
and convened 18 Working Party meetings from 1996 to 2001. The Chinese Government
has persistently adhered to three principles in applying for WTO membership,
namely: 1. as an international organization, the WTO is incomplete without the
participation of China, which is the largest developing country in the world. 2.
China will enter WTO as a developing country. 3. China's rights and obligations
shall be balanced as a member of WTO. The above-mentioned position has won
support from the overwhelming majority of countries in the world. On September
17, 2001, the 18th Meeting of Working Party on China passes all the legal
documents of China which puts all the negotiations on China's accession to an
end. The Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference was held from November 9-13 in Doha,
Qatar. The meeting made a decision on ratifying China's accession to WTO on
November 10 and China signed the Protocol the next day. According to the
regulations of WTO, China officially became a member of WTO on December 11.
With respect to Taiwan's accession to WTO, three principles were
announced in a statement by the GATT Council Chairman in November 1992, namely:
1. all contracting parties recognize that there is only one China. 2. Taiwan
shall enter the GATT in the name of the Separate Customs Territories of Taiwan,
Penhu, Kinmen and Matsu( refered to as Chinese Taipei ). 3. Taiwan shall not
accede to GATT before the People's Republic of China. The Working Party on
Taiwan was then set up and taken over by WTO after the latter's establishment in
January 1995. The Working Party on Taiwan finished its work in 2001. On Doha
Conference, Taiwan was permitted to join the WTO as a Separate Customs
Territories of Taiwan, Penhu, Kinmen and Matsu( refered to as Chinese Taipei ).
Taiwan will officially become WTO member on January 1, 2002. To make proper
arrangements for Taiwan's future participation in activities of WTO, we have
begun to exchange views with other WTO members.
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(Editor:Farah Song) (From:www.fmprc.gov.cn)
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