WTO Accession of Brics Countries: the Chinese Experience

AuthorI. Mikheeva - A. Loginova
PositionNational Research University Higher School of Economics (Nizhny Novgorod, Russia)
Pages84-99
BRICS LAW JOURNAL Volume IV (2017) Issue 1
wTo aCCESSIon oF BRICS CounTRIES:
THE CHInESE ExPERIEnCE
IRINA MIKHEEVA,
National Research University Higher School of Economics
(Nizhny Novgorod, Russia)
ANASTASIA LOGINOVA,
National Research University Higher School of Economics
(Nizhny Novgorod, Russia)
DOI: 10.21684/2412-2343-2017-4-1-84-99
The stages of reforms under the inuence of requirements of the World Trade Orga-
nization are considered on the basis of an analysis of Chinese legislation. Four stages
of preparation by the People’s Republic of China for accession to the WTO within which
there was a transformation of the legal system of China from 1982 to 2001 are described.
The sources of Chinese lawmaking are presented and systematized as the basis of the
economic legislation of the PRC at the stage of preparation for inclusion of China in
the WTO. Attention is drawn to the particularities of the power organization of the
Chinese state, in which there is no separation of powers into three branches: legislative,
executive and judicial. This, in turn, allows to mark the feature in the economic sphere
of legal regulation in China connected with the existence of the rules established by the
Supreme National Court as a source of law. To represent the dynamics of normative-
legal regulation of foreign trade activities, China has used the system of dialectical and
universal methods of knowledge; general scientic methods (induction and deduction)
and techniques (analysis and synthesis); as well as a special methodformally-legal.
The identied course and direction of changes in legal support of domestic and foreign
economic processes in China suggests the possibility to consider the experience of China
in the promotion of Russia in the international trading community.
The authors propose that the entry of China into the WTO is of interest to the BRICS
countries as long as China achieves optimal utilization of the WTO’s external economic
opportunities. In addition, China has established a legally solid basis for the development
of market relations in the state.
IRINA MIKHEEVA, ANASTASIA LOGINOVA 85
Keywords: China; national legislation; WTO accession; market economy; foreign trade
activity.
Recommended citation: Irina Mikheeva & Anastasia Loginova, WTO Accession
of BRICS Countries: The Chinese Experience, 4(1) BRICS Law Journal 84–99 (2017).
Introduction
China’s entry into the World Trade Organization ( WTO) on December 11, 2001
marked the beginning of a new era of economic development and global changes
in the economic and social life of the country. To meet accession requirements, China
had to accept a broad range of obligations and this inuenced the legal regulation
of the most important spheres of the country’s life. China’s integration into the
international trade system required economic changes and the transformation of
legal support of reform processes. The history of China’s accession to the WTO reects
the stages of reform of national legislation in accordance with international trade
cooperation requirements.
1. Stages of China’s Entry into the WTO
The beginning of China’s entry into the international trading community occurred
with the signing of the General Agreement on Taris and Trade (GATT) on October 30,
1947 by the Kuomintang Government to become a member, along with twenty-
three other countries, of GATT/WTO.1 The People’s Republic of China (PRC) began
participation in GATT/WTO bodies as an observer (without a right to vote) only in
1982. At this time the priority was given to the formulation of program documents
in which the course and direction of further economic development were dened
and the specic pr iority of Chinese economic growth objectives was listed. In the
sphere of innovation, this relates to the PRC’s Science and Technology Development
Program for 1978–1985 and Program 863.
A number of laws and regulations were passed and put into eect. To widen
the exchange of engineering information with other countries and to advance
international economic cooperation, the PRC adopted the Act “On Joint Chinese and
Foreign Companies Limited by Shares” at the Second Session of the National People’s
1 Up to 1949, China was represented in GATT by the Kuomintang Government. After the founding of the
PRC in 1949 the new government was absent from GATT participation, though never withdrawing its
claim to status as an original contracting party to the agreement. In 1986, China decided to resume
a position in GATT and obtained the status of observer. When rst applying for accession to GATT,
China hoped for automatic (unconditional) restoration of membership in the organization. But, all
together, the negotiation process with GATT/WTO lasted 15 years (1986–2001).

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