ENVIRONMENTAL AND TRADE IMPLICATIONS OF CHINA’S WTO ACCESSION

The report assesses how China's WTO accession will trigger economic restructuring, potentially reducing overall industrial pollution while increasing urban air pollution due to higher automobile imports. It highlights the risk of 'green barriers' affecting Chinese exports and the potential for increased foreign direct investment to either introduce advanced green technologies or exploit lower environmental standards. The analysis also notes that increased imports of resource-based products could alleviate domestic ecological pressure but may contribute to deforestation and unsustainable exploitation in exporting countries.

• WTO accession offers China an opportunity for rational economic restructuring, which could reduce overall pollution levels in the long term by replacing low-efficiency, high-pollution industries with high-technology alternatives. However, there is a risk that increased production volumes could negate these per-unit pollution gains.
• The impact on the state of the environment will be mixed: wastewater discharges may decrease due to reduced grain production and chemical use, but urban air quality is expected to worsen as car imports increase by an estimated 5% to 10% annually following tariff reductions.
• Increased imports of land-intensive agricultural products and timber could help China reverse ecological degradation and support reforestation, but this may shift environmental burdens to exporting countries, potentially contributing to tropical deforestation.
• Chinese exports, particularly in the textile, toy, and leather sectors, are likely to face 'green barriers'—stringent environmental regulations and voluntary measures like ISO 14000 and ecolabelling—driven by green consumerism in developed markets.
• While WTO membership is expected to boost foreign direct investment (FDI) and introduce advanced pollution control technologies, some small and medium-sized foreign firms may seek to exploit lower environmental standards and lax enforcement in certain Chinese provinces.
• The domestic environmental industry, currently dominated by township and village enterprises (TVEs), faces a high risk of bankruptcy unless it reforms to compete with more technologically advanced foreign companies entering the liberalized environmental services sector.

APA

Tao, H., & Yang, W. (2000). ENVIRONMENTAL AND TRADE IMPLICATIONS OF CHINA’S WTO ACCESSION. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/china-wto-preliminary-analysis.pdf

Chicago

Tao, Hu, and Wanhua Yang. ENVIRONMENTAL AND TRADE IMPLICATIONS OF CHINA’S WTO ACCESSION. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2000. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/china-wto-preliminary-analysis.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tao |first1=Hu |last2=Yang |first2=Wanhua |title=ENVIRONMENTAL AND TRADE IMPLICATIONS OF CHINA’S WTO ACCESSION |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=September 2000 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/china-wto-preliminary-analysis.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tao2000environmental, author = {Tao, Hu and Yang, Wanhua}, title = {{ENVIRONMENTAL AND TRADE IMPLICATIONS OF CHINA’S WTO ACCESSION}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2000}, month = sep, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/china-wto-preliminary-analysis.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }