Past Events

A major challenge raised by China's accession to the WTO is whether the WTO dispute settlement system can cope with China, one of the major traders in the world with an economy that is halfway between a planned economy and a market economy. Historically, the senior leadership in China attached disproportionate importance to the WTO dispute settlement system and preferred to avoid using it. In the first four cases in which China was sued or threatened to be sued in the WTO, China tried to keep a low profile and settled the cases with the complainants.