By Eva Chow

WTO Director General Mike Moore said in Lome on June 27 that he expects China to join the WTO by the end of the year. Moore, who was in Lome, Togo, attending the 36th summit of the Organization of the African Unity (OAU) as an observer, told a press conference that as a big power, China will play an important role in the WTO once its membership is obtained. While the world waits for this historic moment, let us take a look at what China has gone through to join the trade body, and what protocol still lies ahead.

The journey started years ago

Read just about any article about China's accession to the WTO and you will find an irresistible line of journalese describing the 14-year-long journey. China was a founding member of the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1947), but left the organisation in 1949. In 1986, China applied to re-enter the GATT and -- after the establishment of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995 -- to join the WTO.

According to WTO regulations, when a prospective new member applies for membership, a working party will be established to begin the evaluation process for membership. When the working party has made sufficient progress on principles and policies, parallel bilateral talks begin. This also marks the start of a very extensive screening process for the applicant.

In China's case, 37 WTO members requested bilateral trade negotiations. Over 14 years (from 1986-2000), it has managed to complete 33 of them. As of the end of June 2000, still outstanding are final accords with Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Switzerland.

The journey nears its end

Completion of bilateral negotiations does not necessary mean that China will become a WTO member immediately. Once the working party has completed its examination of the applicant's trade regime and parallel bilateral market access negotiations have also been completed, the working party must finalise the terms of accession.

After the technical verification, the final package will be presented to the WTO General Council, and China will need a two-third majority vote to become a WTO member.

But that is not the end of the story. The applicant's own parliament or legislature has to ratify the agreement before it can become a member. In China's case, the agreement has to go through the National People's Congress for rectification. China's WTO membership will only be effective 30 days after the ratified agreement is received by the WTO.

A final note

There is a consensus within the WTO that China's accession will precede that of Chinese Taipei. Some people speculate that China and Chinese Taipei's cases will be approved in the same General Council meeting, before and after a coffee break! Technically, there is no clear-cut answer to this puzzle or how it should be addressed.

Eva Chow is senior manager and chief of the Chamber's International Business Division.