After 15 years of arduous efforts, the protocol on the PRC’s WTO entry was approved and adopted at the Fourth WTO Ministerial Meeting held in Doha, capital of Qatar, by representatives from142 members on November 10, 2001. On December 11, 2001 China formally became the 143rd member of the WTO. Entering the WTO is a strategic decision made by the Chinese government under the condition of economic globalization, marking the new stage of China’s opening-up.

To suit the needs of joining the WTO, China began to revise and improve laws and administrative regulations involving foreign trade and economic cooperation in 1999. Laws and regulations not in conformity with WTO regulations were revised or nullified. By the end of 2001 relevant departments of the State Council had revised 2,300 related laws and regulations and a list of 221 administrative regulations annulled by the State Council had been published. In 2001, the NPC revised the Copyright Law, Trademark Law, and Law on Joint Ventures with Chinese and Foreign Investment. Together with the Law on Chinese-Foreign Cooperative Ventures, Law on Foreign-funded Enterprises and Patent Law revised in 2000, China had revised six laws directly related to China’s WTO entry. China’s permanent mission to the WTO was opened in Geneva on January 28, 2002.