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

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.Policy brief