China's WTO Accession: Impacts on Trade policy and Legal system?

China's accession in the World Trade Organization was one of the hotly debated topics in international trade arena. Ironically, after years of incense that the West was trying to keep China out of the trade body hence it was a long battle for China to get access in this multilateral trade regime. Many worried before the accession that China's trade will face tremendous competition from the west, the agricultural and infant industries will face a vulnerable condition and that China as a nation will become knotted in a global capitalist network that will erode the country's sovereignty. By contrast, the optimists' view was that China's entry will promote the rule of law in the country, reduce the state interference over the citizen and accelerate China's trade into new level and thus China's entry will benefit not only China but also the global community. Though there were difficulties to reform the trade policies and legal system to make it conformity with WTO standards but China got the chance to reinforce the directions in which China's economy and polity have been moving in recent years. By examining China's accession history in WTO, particularly since it signed the Havana Charter, this Article finds its experience in the GATT and aneagerness to participate the multilateral trading system and a objective to change its trade policy and legal system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]