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PRESS/TPRB/299 
21 May 2008 
 
(08-2341) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: CHINA 
Reforms, including trade libera lization, have underpinned high 
growth but challenges remain  
Structural reforms in China, including trade liberalization, have resulted in annual real GDP growth 
rates in excess of 10% over the past 4 years, rising per-capita income and poverty reduction. In the process, China has become the world’s third largest trader. Since its previous Review in 2006, 
China’s trade regime has continued on a liberalizing trend. Ongoing reform will help to sustain high 
growth in the face of a number of challenges including various economic imbalances, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of China. 
 
The report highlights details about structural reforms, including in the financial and other sectors that have introduced more market-oriented measures aimed at achieving a more efficient 
allocation of resources. The report also notes that China has continued to be one of the largest 
recipients of inward FDI and has become a large pr ovider of outward FDI, reflecting its increasing 
integration into the global economy.  
 
However, the report identifies imbalances in the sources of growth in the economy, which is mainly driven by exports and investment rather than by consumption, a widening gap between savings 
and investment reflected in China’s growing current account surplus, and rising income inequality 
despite high GDP growth.   
The WTO Secretariat report, along with a policy stat ement by the Government of China, will be the 
basis for the second TPR of China by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 21 and 23 May 2008. 
 
The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp299_e.htm  
 
• Secretariat reports 
> Contents and summary observations  
> Economic environment  
> Trade and investment regimes  > Trade policies and practices by measure  
> Trade policies by sector  
> Appendix tables  PRESS/TPRB/299 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 • Report by Government of China 
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). 
Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO Agreement, in which member 
countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each 
review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William 
Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews  
 
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States 
Next reviews: 
United States: 9 and 11 June 2008 
Oman: 25 and 27 June 2008 
Singapore: 14 and 16 of July 2008 
 For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews  
 
 
END