China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December 2001 is a major landmark in the country’s integration into the global economy as well as in the history of the international political economy. To evaluate the transformative changes of this event for China, its trading partners, and global trade governance, we brought together leading scholars and senior policymakers from various disciplines to participate in the book track of the World Trade Forum in November 2021, which was almost exactly at the time of the 20th anniversary of China’s accession to the WTO.

While the event was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we benefited greatly from the lively exchange among the participants and wish to thank all of them for their contributions, which resulted in this volume. We wish to thank the following individuals who took time out of their busy schedules to serve as external discussants of draft chapters and for their invaluable comments and suggestions: Frederick Abbott (Florida State University), Robert Basedow (LSE), Eddy Bekkers (WTO), Cosimo Beverelli (WTO), Donald Clarke (George Washington University), Manfred Elsig (WTI), Christian Häberli (WTI), Stuart Harbinson (WTO), Hosuk Lee-Makiyama (ECIPE), Petros Mavroidis (Columbia University), Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz (ICTSD), Marcelo Olarreaga (University of Geneva), Rodrigo Polanco (WTI), Greg Shaffer (University of California, Irvine), Yeling Tan (University of Oregon), Peter Van den Bossche (WTI), Patrick Wagner (University of Konstanz), Ji Wenhua (UIBE), and Boliang Zhu (Penn State University).