China’s Joining the WTO: Opportunities for the Australian Agribusiness Sector

China first applied to join the GATT (now the WTO) in July 1986. After almost 15 years of negotiations, China may soon get accepted to the WTO. China’s joining the WTO will undoubtedly bring opportunities and challenges to the agribusiness sector of both China and overseas countries. To a large extent, opportunities for China’s agribusiness sector are likely to be challenges for the agribusiness sector of foreign countries; and for the same reason, challenges for China are likely to be opportunities for overseas countries. In this paper, after highlighting China’s "long journey" to the WTO, we examine the likely opportunities and challenges facing the agribusiness sectors of China and overseas countries, with particular reference to Australia. We will also attempt to identify possible areas of cooperation between China and Australia’s agribusiness sectors