But for the West, the agreement holds less than meets the eye.
China appears to be playing for short-term benefits, such as a surge in Western dollars.
Indeed, before the ink was even dry, Beijing portrayed this as a sign of political strength versus the United States, not as an important economic reform. The United States and China signed a bilateral trade agreement on November 15 in Beijing. China has to still strike bilateral agreements with the European Union and four others before the WTO will formally consider China's petition for membership. But it seems likely that Beijing will continue to protect its markets and find new ways to control them - whatever the paper terms of the agreement. For Beijing, signing the deal carried primarily political implications, not economic ones.