COUNTRYCOMPARATIVEGUIDES 2023The Legal 500Country Comparative GuidesChinaINTERNATIONAL TRADEContributorJingtian & GongchengJingtian &GongchengJianlin WangPartner | wang.jianlin@jingtian.comXiaolan YeAssociate | ye.xiaolan@jingtian.comThis country-specific Q&A provides an overview of international trade laws and regulations applicable in China.For a full list of jurisdictional Q&As visit legal500.com/guidesInternational Trade: ChinaPDF Generated: 11-12-20232/11© 2023 Legalease LtdCHINAINTERNATIONAL TRADE 1. What has been your jurisdiction’shistorical level of interaction with the WTO(e.g. membership date for the GATT/WTO,contribution to initiatives, hosting ofMinisterials, trade policy reviews)?China has been a member of the WTO since December11, 2001. Prior to this, in 1986, China submitted anapplication to the General Agreement on Tariffs andTrade (GATT) to restore China’s status as a member ofthe GATT, which opened the process of re-entrynegotiations. In 1995, WTO was established, and China’sre-entry negotiations were officially transformed intoaccession negotiations.China has actively participated in plurilateralliberalization initiatives and made importantcontributions to relevant talks. It accepted theInformation Technology Agreement (ITA) upon accessionof WTO, subsequently participated in the negotiations toexpand ITA’s coverage, and encouraged relevant partiesto reach agreement on eliminating tariffs of 201information technology products. It is worth noting thatChina is also one of the initiators of the negotiations onthe Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA). Althoughnegotiations on EGA have been put on hold, China hasparticipated in relevant discussions with a constructiveattitude.China places great emphasis on the trade policy review(TPR) process. It has undergone eight TPRs from 2006 to2022. In addition, China has also participated inhundreds of TPRs of other WTO members. It raisedthousands of written questions and trade concerns to themembers under review, urged them to comply with WTOrules and commitments.2. Are there any WTO agreements to whichyour jurisdiction is not party (e.g.Government Procurement Agreement)? Isyour jurisdiction seeking to accede tothese agreements?China is an observer (but not a full member) of theGovernment Procurement Committee and has beennegotiating to accede to the Plurilateral Agreement onGovernment Procurement Agreement (GPA) since 2007.As of Oct. 2023, China has submitted six offers to accedeto GPA.Meanwhile, China is an observer (but not a full member)of the Plurilateral Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft.3. Is your jurisdiction participating in anyongoing WTO negotiations (e.g. E-Commerce Joint Initiative) and what hasbeen its role?China has encouraged the WTO to respond to anddiscuss new topics of general interest to the memberssuch as investment facilitation, micro, small andmedium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and e-commerce.China initiated “Friends of ...
