Trade Liberalization in China's Accession to the World Trade Organization

Before reform, China's trade was dominated by a few foreign trade corporations with monopolies on the trade of specific ranges of products. Planners could control imports through these corporations so there was little need for conventional instruments such as tariffs, quotas, and licenses. Trade reforms increased the range of enterprises eligible to trade in specific commodities and led to the development of indirect new trade instruments, such as duty exemptions. Duty exemptions almost completely liberalized the imports of intermediate inputs used to produce exports and investment goods used in joint ventures with foreign enterprises. Comprehensive liberalization measures in China's World Trade Organization (WTO) accession package will help ease this problem as tariff reduction reduces the costs of domestic inputs to exporters. WTO commitments will also lead to the abolition of most nontariff barriers and of quotas on textiles and clothing. With accession, China's share of world exports may almost double between 1995 and 2005 - an estimate that is smaller than those found in studies that do not incorporate duty exemptions. (Duty exemptions were a form of partial liberalization, so any further reduction in protection will boost trade volume less than some estimate.) With reform, labor-intensive industries are expected to grow most, especially exports of apparel. Wages of unskilled worker should rise.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Ianchovichina, Elena, Martin, Will
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2001-06
Subjects:	ACCESSION, ACCESSION AGREEMENT, ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS, ACCESSION PACKAGE, ACCESSION PROCESS, ACCESSION TO THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION, ACCESSION TO WTO, AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, AGRICULTURAL EXPORT SUBSIDIES, AGRICULTURAL PRICES, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, AGRICULTURAL PROTECTION, AGRICULTURAL SECTOR, AGRICULTURAL SECTORS, AGRICULTURAL TRADE, AGRICULTURAL TRADE POLICIES, AGRICULTURE, APPAREL, APPAREL EXPORTS, APPAREL PRODUCTS, APPAREL SECTOR, AUTOMOBILE SECTOR, AVERAGE, AVERAGE TARIFF, AVERAGE TARIFFS, BARLEY, BASE YEAR, BENCHMARK, BENEFICIAL IMPACT, BILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS, CAPITAL GOODS, CAPITAL STOCK, COAL, COMMAND ECONOMY, COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE, CUSTOMS, CUSTOMS VALUATION, DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, DEVELOPMENT, DISTRIBUTION SERVICES, DOMESTIC DEMAND, DUTY EXEMPTIONS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC HISTORY, EMPIRICAL RESEARCH, EMPLOYMENT, EXCHANGE RATES, EXPORT MARKETS, EXPORT PROCESSING, EXPORT QUOTAS, EXPORT SECTORS, EXPORT TAX, EXPORT TAX EQUIVALENTS, EXPORT VOLUMES, EXPORTERS, FACTOR ENDOWMENTS, FORECASTS, FOREIGN ENTERPRISES, FOREIGN EXCHANGE, FOREIGN FIRMS, FOREIGN INVESTMENT, FOREIGN TRADE, FREE TRADE, GRAIN TRADE, GROUPS OF COMMODITIES, GROWTH RATE, HIGH IMPORT DUTIES, HIGH TRADE BARRIERS, HUMAN CAPITAL, IMPORT DUTIES, IMPORT MARKETS, INCOME, INCOME ELASTICITIES, INCOME GROWTH, INCREASED COMPETITION, INDUSTRIAL COUNTRIES, INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS, INDUSTRIAL TARIFFS, INSURANCE, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, INTENSIVE INDUSTRIES, INTERMEDIATE INPUTS, INTERNATIONAL MARKETS, LABOR- INTENSIVE, LABOR-INTENSIVE, MARKET ACCESS, MARKET LIBERALIZATION, MARKET PRICES, METALS, MONOPOLIES, NEGATIVE PROTECTION, NET EXPORTER, NONTARIFF BARRIERS, OIL, OPENNESS, PARTIAL LIBERALIZATION, POLICY MAKERS, POLICY REFORMS, POVERTY REDUCTION, PROCESS OF LIBERALIZATION, PRODUCERS, PRODUCT PRICES, PRODUCTIVITY, PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH, PROTECTION RATES, PROTECTIVE IMPACT, QUOTA IMPORTS, QUOTA TARIFF, RATES OF PROTECTION, REAL EXCHANGE RATE, RESOURCE ALLOCATION, ROUND AGREEMENT, SHARE OF WORLD EXPORTS, STATE TRADING, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, STATUTORY TARIFF, STATUTORY TARIFF RATES, STRUCTURAL CHANGE, TARIFF BARRIERS, TARIFF BINDINGS, TARIFF EQUIVALENTS, TARIFF PROTECTION, TARIFF RATE, TARIFF RATE QUOTAS, TARIFF RATES, TARIFF REDUCTION, TARIFF REDUCTIONS, TARIFF REFORM, TARIFFS, TAXATION, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TIMBER, TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY, TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH, TOURISM, TRADE, TRADE COSTS, TRADE LIBERALIZATION, TRADE PATTERNS, TRADE POLICIES, TRADE POLICY, TRADE POLICY INSTRUMENTS, TRADE POLICY REFORM, TRADE REFORM, TRADE REFORMS, TRADE REGIME, TRADE REGIMES, TRADE RIGHTS, TRADE VOLUME, TRADING PARTNERS, TRADING RIGHTS, TRADING SYSTEM, TRANSITION ECONOMIES, TRANSITION PERIOD, TRIPS AGREEMENT, UNSKILLED WORKERS, URUGUAY ROUND, VALUE ADDED, WAGES, WELFARE GAINS, WORLD ECONOMY, WORLD TRADE, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION, WTO, WTO ACCESSION, WTO AGREEMENT, WTO COMMITMENTS, WTO MEMBERS,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/06/1490130/trade-liberalization-chinas-accession-world-trade-organization https://hdl.handle.net/10986/19606
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