First ambassador: Growth and experience from WTO

The WTO multilateral trade system has been beneficial to China's economic development, with its foreign trade averaging annual growth of 22 percent since the nation joined the world trade body, Sun Zhenyu, chairman of China Society for World Trade Organization Study, said at a recent conference.

Before its membership, China averaged 15 percent growth over the previous five decades, said Sun, who was China's first ambassador to the WTO.

He pointed out that the country continued its momentum in the past years even during the ongoing global economic downturn.