The entry of China into the World Trade Organization is of major significance for both the WTO and China.
The WTO has to live down the fiasco of its conference in Seattle last autumn, which was disrupted by environmentalists and anarchists who have failed to grasp the fundamental fact that growth in world trade is essential if global prosperity is to be maintained and developed.
The WTO must first demonstrate that it is an effective organization. This means enforcing its rulings, which can only be achieved if the world's major trading nations learn to accept rulings that they dislike and not try to undermine them with specious arguments. The worst offenders at present are, unfortunately, the European Union and the United States, but Japan's record also leaves room for improvement. Many of the disputes that have caused so much friction between the EU and the U.S. are difficult for the layman to understand.