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The Treatment of Chinese SOEs in China's WTO Protocol of Accession

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 October 2017

PHILIP I. LEVY*
Affiliation:
Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Abstract

The two central issues in China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) were its economic size and the large role the state had played in economic decisions – the treatment of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) as central to addressing the latter point. While the Protocol of Accession imposed obligations on China that went beyond what was required of other WTO members, it has not been effective at resolving concerns about Chinese SOEs. This demonstrates, in part, the limitations in using the WTO as a vehicle to promote economic reform.

Type
Review Article
Copyright
Copyright © Philip I. Levy 2017 

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Footnotes

I benefited from comments at Columbia Law School's Trade Seminar; all remaining errors are my own.

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