Analysis of Chinas Accession Commitments in the WTO: New Taxonomy of More and Less Stringent Commitments, and the Struggle for Mitigation by China

This article presents the analysis on taxonomy of various commitments agreed upon in the course of China's accession to the WTO from a new perspective; not only more stringent obligations to China but also less stringent obligations both to China and Members, and to analyse to what extent the commitments deviate from the WTO Agreement. The article sheds light on the struggle by China, especially focusing on the negotiations after the bilateral agreement with the US in 1999, not to accept what was demanded, but rather to reject, amend or make counterproposals to mitigate the obligations departing from the WTO Agreement. Finally, various commitments by China and incumbent Members have been weighed in order to give an overall picture of the WTO accession of China.