WTO Basics

Author: Liu Yongyan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: In a certain sense, "accession to the WTO" is primarily about the government's accession. The concepts and qualities of government agencies and other departments' Party and government cadres must take the lead in acceding to the WTO. As a report titled "Government Needs to Adapt to the WTO" from the Development Research Center of the State Council points out: "What is urgently needed to study now is the government's accession to the WTO," because the WTO is an intergovernmental international organization based on mandatory rules, and most of its rules are content-based and target government actions and management activities. Precisely for this reason, WTO rules are primarily requirements for member governments and their administrative actions. Acceding to the WTO is first and foremost the government's accession, and government administrative actions must be regulated and constrained by WTO rules, while also accepting strict supervision from the WTO and its members through the Trade Policy Review Mechanism and the Dispute Settlement Mechanism. Therefore, accession to the WTO requires the improvement of China's administrative legal system, demanding that government administration be legalized, government affairs be made public, and administrative procedures be standardized. The development and improvement of administrative rule of law are closely related to whether China's accession to the WTO can achieve the expected results. To adapt to the current needs of the situation, it is necessary to strengthen civil servants' understanding of WTO knowledge, familiarize and master WTO rules, act in accordance with the rules, and improve the level of administrative rule of law. Strengthening basic WTO knowledge training for civil servants is an important measure to address the challenges of accession to the WTO. Through training, on the one hand, it is necessary to enable a broad understanding and mastery of WTO knowledge among cadres, actively adapting to WTO rules. On the other hand, what is even more important is to help cadres continuously update their concepts and pursue reform with determination. First, it is necessary to enhance the understanding of the necessity and importance of acceding to the WTO, aligning thoughts and actions with the Party Central Committee's decisions and arrangements. Second, it is necessary to strengthen the awareness of international rules, learn to manage the economy more extensively through legal means, and firmly overcome the phenomenon of issuing orders based on subjective considerations. Third, it is necessary to further achieve a transformation from a planned economy to a market economy concept, fully mastering all the principles of the World Trade Organization to create a completely new competitive environment for enterprises. In accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Personnel of the State Council to conduct comprehensive basic WTO knowledge training for civil servants, we organized some comrades with high theoretical levels to write this book.