by NicholasR.Lardy (Author)
China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been hailed as the biggest coming-out party in the history of capitalism. Its membership eventually will contribute to higher standards of living for its citizens and increased growth for its economy. But why would the Chinese communist regime voluntarily agree to comply with the many complex rules of the global trading system since it has already become the world's seventh largest trading country while avoiding these constraints by remaining outside the system?
The answer to this question forms the basis for this new book. Nicholas Lardy explores the many pressures on the Chinese government, both external and internal, to comply with the standards of the rule-based international trading system. Lardy points out that, prior to entry into the WTO, China enjoyed high growth rates and more foreign direct investment than any other emerging economy. He draws on a wealth of scholarship and experience to explain how China's leadership expects to leverage the increased foreign competition inherent in its WTO commitments to accelerate its domestic economic reform program, leading to the shrinkage and transformation of inefficient, money-losing companies and hastening the development of a commercial credit culture in its banks. Lardy answers a number of other questions about China's new WTO membership, including its effects on bilateral trade with the United States; the possibility that China will use its power to reshape the WTO in the future; the degree to which the terms of China's entry were more or less demanding than those for other new members; the ability of China's economy to successfully open to new imports; and the prospects for new growth in various sectors of China's economy made possible by WTO accession.
This book will become an important tool for those who wish to understand China's new role in the global trading system, to take advantage of the new opportunities for investment in China, or simply to gain a better understanding of what former President Clinton called a once in a generation event.
Format: Illustrated
Pages: 260
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
Published: 27 Feb 2002
ISBN 10: 0815751354
ISBN 13: 9780815751359
Book Overview: The entry of China into the WTO is the most important event in the short history of the WTO. Professor Lardy's book is a timely and definitive analysis of the event's many facets. Lardy is one of the most accomplished students of the Chinese economy. He asks the questions most important to scholars, policymakers, and interested Americans, including why has China been willing to take on difficult obligations exceeding those of existing members and other acceding nations and which can impose short-term risks and burdens on China? What is the potential for China's compliance with the WTO obligations? His answers are profound, balanced, and supported. No one who requires knowledge of the global impact of China's membership in the WTO should be without this book. --John H. Jackson, University Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center