But it is China's policies on agriculture that have undergone the most significant adjustments. The average agricultural tariff decreased from 18.8 percent to 15.2 percent during these 10 years and China's grain output increased from 452.64 million tons in 2001 to 546.4 million tons in 2010. China is now the fourth largest country in world agricultural trade.

China has also carried out a large-scale revision of its laws and regulations to be consistent with the basic principles of WTO. China has comprehensively revised its foreign investment law, unified domestic and foreign income tax, issued and implemented the Anti-Monopoly Law, promoted the reform of foreign exchange and expanded the cross-border use of the renminbi, which will gradually realize the currency's free convertibility.

Moreover, WTO membership has promoted administration according to the law in China and the transformation of government functions, promoted legislation and procedural transparency and implemented legal system reform.

Over the 10 years, China has also become an important force in the future development of the multilateral trade system. Although at first its participation was limited, China is now an active participant in all areas of the Doha round of world trade talks and its representation and voice have increased significantly. It has entered the inner circle of the WTO negotiations, realizing the important transition from regulations acceptor to rules maker, presenting more than 100 proposals.

China's status as a developing country was not defined clearly in the Protocol on China's Accession to the WTO. But China is still a developing country and will be for a long time to come. China's strategic perspective on fundamental interests is consistent with other developing members in the multilateral trading system, and China has been actively maintaining and developing economic and trade relations with developing members. China seeks equality between developing and developed members as the basis for dialogues aimed at solving frictions and disputes between them. However, China does not want to be the leader of developing countries whose interests are not entirely consistent.

China's cardinal principles and standpoints in the WTO are to give full attention to the interests of developing members, to develop a more just multilateral trading system and to maintain a rational international political and economic order.

China will continue to actively participate in global trade governance within the framework of the existing WTO system. In spite of the limited voice of developing countries in the WTO and defects in its internal mechanisms and institutions, China adheres to the idea that the status quo of the WTO should be maintained rather than seeking systemic reform when participating in global trade governance. The real challenges may come from the WTO rules themselves, which the Chinese government has always maintained are imperfect and unfair. As long as the rules are reformed and perfected through negotiations, cooperation and even compromises, the WTO international multilateral system will be effective and the established international order improved.

China's active participation in global trade governance signifies that it will continue opposing all forms of trade protection firmly, providing impetus to the establishment of a balanced world, a mutually beneficial multilateral trading system and the development of regional economic integration.

So in the next decade China will continue to take part in globalization and regional economic integration, expand its opening-up policy and further liberalize and facilitate investment with the aim of helping to build a peaceful, harmonious and prosperous world.

The author is deputy secretary-general of China Society for WTO Studies.

(China Daily 11/24/2011 page8)