WTO and China's Administrative Legal System Reform

Author: Xinchunying, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-01
Features: This book focuses on the opportunities and challenges faced by China's administrative legal system reform after its entry into the WTO. Through research on various reforms of the administrative legal system under the WTO framework, such as determining the direction of government function transformation, enhancing the protective function of administrative law for economic behavior and economic freedom, and improving the administrative supervision system, it provides a large number of targeted policy recommendations for reforms in specific areas of administrative law. More than two years ago, we established this research topic together with the Adenauer Foundation. At that time, China had gone through a difficult 15-year journey to achieve the status it deserved in the World Trade Organization. Research on China's entry into the WTO and its impact on China's political, economic, and legal future development suddenly became a "hot topic." Frankly, our research topic was also influenced by this trend. How to avoid superficial research in an academic trend and ensure that the research outcomes are practically useful has been a key concern for our research team from the very beginning. Our thinking started from a fundamental question: Why was China's entry into the WTO a focal point in international politics, even domestic politics, for a period of time, when admitting new members is a routine matter for the World Trade Organization? The reasons are complex. The fundamental issue is whether China's legal and regulatory system can meet the requirements of the WTO. The WTO is based on a market economy, while China is a country transitioning from a planned economy to a market economy. Corresponding to this transformation, China's administrative legal system is also shifting from direct intervention in economic activities to government regulation that aligns with market rules. Many legal scholars, both domestically and internationally, have differing opinions on whether China has the ability and how to reform its domestic administrative legal system to promote and ensure the implementation of WTO provisions. Some Western countries also used China's entry into the WTO as a political bargaining chip, and doubts about China's commitment and capacity to fulfill its obligations once again hung in the air of the international community. Therefore, this research is grounded in an understanding of WTO rules and the theory and practice of administrative law reform. The WTO agreements directly bind governments and government actions. Through the analysis of specific systems, confirming the direction of reform for China's administrative legal system within the WTO framework is our primary goal. Our research begins with the constitutional protection of citizens' economic rights. This may not seem directly related. However, the constitutional background of administrative law is very important. The constitution's respect and protection of property rights, especially private property rights, to some extent determine the direction of the entire administrative legal system. It is exciting that the constitutional amendment in 2004 included the protection of non-public-owned economy and the protection of citizens' property rights in the constitution. We also studied the relationship between the WTO and the rule of law for government functions, the role and impact of the WTO on China's administrative legal system reform, the WTO and the improvement of institutional quality, the WTO and judicial supervision of administrative actions, and the WTO and open administration. We also addressed issues such as national taxation, tariffs, government subsidies and national protection, as well as the freedom of trade, business establishment, and operation, and the impact of the WTO on labor rights. From these studies, it can be seen that China's administrative legal system is undergoing a continuous process of reform. China's entry into the WTO and its acceptance of the "non-discriminatory, free, predictable, and more competitive" multilateral trade system of the existing 140+ member states also means accepting the pressure and challenges to its own system. Equal rules applied to unequal subjects inevitably lead to inequality. For example, the impact on China's vulnerable agricultural sector is evident. When foreign agricultural products entered the Chinese market and led to the decay of Chinese farmers' crops in the fields, we recognized the importance of competitiveness and understood that progress comes at a cost.