China

“Trade Policy Reviews” analyse the trade policies and practices of each member of the WTO. The reviews consist of three parts: an independent report by the WTO Secretariat, a report by the government, and the concluding remarks by the Chair of the WTO’s Trade Policy Review Body. The opening section - “key trade facts” - provides a visual overview of the WTO member’s major exports/imports, main export destinations, origins for its imports and other k Read More

“Trade Policy Reviews” analyse the trade policies and practices of each member of the WTO. The reviews consist of three parts: an independent report by the WTO Secretariat, a report by the government, and the concluding remarks by the Chair of the WTO’s Trade Policy Review Body. The opening section - “key trade facts” - provides a visual overview of the WTO member's major exports/imports, main export destinations, origins for its imports and other k Read More

“Trade Policy Reviews” analyse the trade policies and practices of each member of the WTO. The reviews consist of three parts: an independent report by the WTO Secretariat, a report by the government, and the concluding remarks by the Chair of the WTO’s Trade Policy Review Body. The opening section - “key trade facts” - provides a visual overview of the WTO member’s major exports/imports, main export destinations, origins for its imports and other k Read More

This fourth Trade Policy Review (TPR) of China has provided Members an opportunity to conduct a collective appreciation and evaluation of the full range of China’s trade policies and practices and their impact on the functioning of the multilateral trading system. I wish to thank the Chinese delegation, headed by H.E. Mr. Yu Jianhua, Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Commerce, for their active participation and H.E. Ambassador Steffen Smidt of Denmark f Read More

El valor en dólares de las transacciones de comercio electrónico en China ha aumentado enormemente durante los 20 últimos años, con el apoyo de una mejora de la infraestructura, el rápido crecimiento de la telefonía móvil y una mayor financiación. El mercado también se caracteriza por una mayor diversidad, ejemplo de la cual son el crecimiento de los servicios médicos electrónicos, la expansión del comercio electrónico transfronterizo y el Read More

In China, the term “small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)” refers to “different forms of enterprises under different ownerships that are established within the territory of the People’s Republic of China that meet the social needs and create more job opportunities, and comply with the industrial policies of the State”. This definition is rather more complex than that in other countries, where the definition of SMEs tends to be based purely on their size. Read More

The thirteenth Trade Policy Review of Japan has been a good opportunity for Members to discuss recent developments in the country’s economic, trade and investment policies and their implications for international trade. Such a fruitful dialogue would not have been possible without the constructive engagement of the Japanese delegation led by Mr. Tomochika Uyama; their team in Geneva headed by Ambassador Junichi Ihara; our discussant, H.E. Ambassa Read More

China enjoyed strong economic growth in 2010 and 2011, boosted by a ¥4 trillion fiscal stimulus package implemented in 2008-10. Growth was also helped by the recovery of world trade, but China’s exports recovered less rapidly than its imports and its merchandise trade surplus continued to fall, reaching 4.3% of GDP in 2010 from levels of 9% and above before 2008. Nominal GDP per capita increased in 2011 to the equivalent of US$5,400.

The dollar value of e-commerce transactions in China has increased enormously over the past 20 years, supported by improved infrastructure, the rapid growth of mobile telephony and increased financing. The market also is characterized by increasing diversity, for example, the growth of e-medical services, the expansion of cross-border e-commerce and the development of online-offline transactions. China’s national government has played an import Read More

The Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) was first established on a trial basis by the GATT contracting parties in April 1989. The Mechanism became a permanent feature of the World Trade Organization under the Marrakesh Agreement which established the WTO in January 1995.

This Trade Policy Review has provided an opportunity for Members to better understand Mexico’s trade and investment policies. I would like to thank the Mexican delegation led by Mr Juan Carlos Baker, Under-Secretary of Foreign Trade in the Ministry of the Economy; the Discussant, H.E. Ambassador Gustavo Vanerio, Permanent Representative of Uruguay to the WTO; and all the Members who have participated in this exercise, for your invaluable contributions.

The emergence of the People’s Republic of China as a great economic power has stimulated an epochal shift in patterns of world trade, in contradiction to the conventional wisdom regarding the impact of trade on labor markets in developed countries (Autor, Dorn, and Hanson 2016). The global effects of the People’s Republic of China’s trade and economic growth has been widely documented (Autor, Dorn, and Hanson 2013; Bugamelli, Fabiani, and Set Read More

This seventh Trade Policy Review of China has allowed us to take a closer look at the trade and economic policies of China and to deepen our understanding of developments in those policies since its previous Review in 2016. I would like to thank, once again, Vice Minister Wang Shouwen and his delegation for their constructive engagement throughout this exercise. I would also like to thank the discussant, Ambassador Chambovey, Permanent Representative Read More

As a reaction to import competition from low-wage economies, firms in developed economies would respond by upgrading their innovative activities, leading to so-called defensive skill-biased innovation. In this chapter, we examine this “defensive innovation” hypothesis, which was first discussed in Wood (1994) and subsequently formalized in Thoenig and Verdier (2003). In a broader context, the effect of competition on the rate of innovation has been one Read More