resulted in the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO was
officially established on January 1, 1995; the European Community^1 and all of its
member states are founding members. Though China signed the Marrakech
Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, negotiations regarding
China’s reentry into the GATT were not able to come to a smooth end and China
failed to become a founding member of the WTO and so it was still divorced from
the multilateral trade system. After negotiations concerning China’s reentry into the
GATT shifted to China’s WTO negotiations, the EU was one of the largest
opponents in bilateral negotiations concerning China’s accession to the WTO and
put forward a series of very strict conditions for China’s accession to it, among
which there were obviously non-trade requirements. Arduous negotiations between
China and the EU were concluded in May, 2000—half a year after China and the
USA signed agreements concerning China’s accession to the WTO in November,
- The conclusion of the China-EU agreements led to the removal of the last
main obstacle in the path towards China’s accession to the WTO. The decision
concerning China’s accession to the WTO was adopted during the WTO’s
Ministerial Conference in Doha in November, 2001; one month later, China offi-
cially joined the WTO. China and the EU ultimately found themselves together in
the WTO as the most important platform for a multilateral trade system and global
trade governance, thus opening a new chapter for China-EU trade relations.
6.1 Participation in the Doha Round of Multilateral Trade
Negotiations
Thefirst round of multilateral trade negotiations after the establishment of the WTO
was launched three days after the decision concerning China’s accession to the
WTO was adopted at the Ministerial Conference in Doha in 2001. The Doha Round
of negotiations aimed at substantially reducing agricultural subsidies, expanding
market access for trade in industrial goods and services and meeting sustainable
developmental needs of developing members; these aims were also called the
“Doha Development Agenda”. The focal point of concern in this agenda was the
growth of developing members and its core issue was agriculture.
6.1.1 Status and Roles
As a new member, China was an outsider and a bystander in the affairs from which
the new Doha Round of negotiations originated. At the initial stage following
(^1) Legally,“the European Union”did not become formal title in the WTO until theTreaty of Lisbon
came into force on December 1, 2009, while previously it was called “The European
Communities”. For convenience,“the European Union”is used in all cases in this paper, unless
otherwise specially required.
118 L. Heng