Introduction

Jonathan Reuvid and Li Yong

The publication of this fourth edition of Doing Business with China marks China's first two historic events of the twenty-first century. On 11 December 2001, the country finally became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and on 15 November of that year, with the official announcement of Mr Hu Jintao's appointment as Mr Jiang Zemin's successor, the smooth transfer of government to China's fourth generation of leaders was accomplished.

WTO membership

The immediate impact on foreign trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) of China's WTO entry in 2002 is summarised below and in the first chapter of the book by Li Shantong of the Development Research Centre of the State Council. The longer term implications of WTO membership, both for investment and trade in the context of China's further opening up, are explored in depth in Parts One and Two by an array of Chinese and foreign authors ranging from Liu Xiangdong, Vice Ministerial Chair and Hu Jingyan, Director General, Department of Foreign Investment, MOFTEC, and Shi Yonghai, Chairman, China Association of International Trade, to the Brussels office partners of law firm Herbert Smith.

These different perspectives on WTO entry, supported by the prefaces of Lord Brittan, former EU Trade Commissioner and Shen Jueren, Honorary President of China Association of International Trade, contribute to the central theme of this book: China's overwhelming sense of purpose in becoming an active player in the world economy. Readers will be struck by the wholehearted nature of the commitments China has made to the WTO and in particular the determination to infuse international standards of transparency into the regulation of the economy and business management practice.