Beaten in the WTO's new game

Henry Gao, associate professor of law, SMU, commented: "Joining the WTO has enhanced government transparency tremendously – 10 years ago many laws and regulations were often closely guarded within government agencies and not disclosed to the public. Today, you can check the Ministry of Commerce's website and find lots of government information. Had China not joined the trade body, it is uncertain whether the reform programme would have stayed on course, if not gone backwards, without an external binding commitment.”