2001, Volume 4, Paper 41
ISSN: 2209-6612

China’s Joining the WTO: Opportunities for the Australian Agribusiness Sector

Wei-Ming Tian – College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University, Beijing China
Zhang-Yue Zhou – Asian Agribusiness Research Centre, The University of Sydney, Orange NSW

Introduction

China first applied to join the GATT (now the WTO) in July 1986. After almost 16 years of painstaking negotiations, China is very close to joining the WTO. When China gets accepted into the WTO, a market with 1.3 billion consumers will be more widely open to the rest of the world. This market represents enormous opportunities for exporters and investors of many other countries. Undoubtedly, it will also bring opportunities to the agribusiness sectors of both China and other countries.

What might be in it for the Australian agribusiness sector? What opportunities may Australia expect? What are the likely challenges Australia may encounter? In this paper, after briefly describing China’s preparation for joining the WTO, we highlight the changes that are likely to take place in markets in China after it joins the WTO. We then attempt to identify areas where opportunities may exist for the Australian agribusiness sector to gain increased access to the Chinese market and where cooperation may be possible between the Australian and Chinese agribusiness sectors. We will also point out possible challenges and competition facing the Australian agribusiness sector in the Chinese market. We conclude this paper by addressing some issues that need to be taken into account for the Australian agribusiness sector to be successful in the Chinese market.

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