China has actively participated in WTO dispute settlement over the past decade. It was hoped that China's WTO accession and participation in WTO dispute settlement could provide an external force to further China's reform. Due chiefly to the expansionist trend of the WTO regime and China's non-market economy, party-state regime and highly politicized WTO accession strategy, WTO dispute settlement sometimes exerts effects on China that are beyond the area of trade. Although China is sensitive and vulnerable to such trade-plus effects, a case study of China's relevant WTO disputes shows that, in general, China has successfully accommodated such effects to date. Therefore, despite its positive role in helping China improve trade governance, WTO dispute settlement has insofar played a limited role in furthering non-trade reform in China.
Journal of World Trade