China Joins the WTO
Accession in 2001 deepened trade integration, while growth and displacement had many causes.
China joined the World Trade Organization in December 2001 after years of negotiation and domestic economic reform. Accession expanded access to global markets and affected investment, production, exports, and trade rules.
China's rapid poverty reduction began before accession and reflected many forces, including agricultural change, industrialization, urbanization, education, and public policy. Trade integration created gains and dislocation across China and its trading partners; effects varied by region and worker.
Without WTO membership, supply chains might have shifted more slowly or through different countries. China's development would not necessarily have stalled, and global poverty trends would have depended on policies and growth elsewhere.
Trade can raise aggregate output without ensuring that gains are shared. Understanding a global shift requires examining who obtained new opportunities, who faced adjustment costs, and what support was available.
Trade can raise aggregate output without ensuring that gains are shared.
When I praise trade for creating growth, whose losses and adjustment costs am I treating as invisible?