China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is the most important event in the country's history since the inception of its "open door" economic policy a quarter-century ago. Trade liberalization will benefit consumers, small entrepreneurs, and foreign investors. But for China's peasants, WTO membership appears to pose a direct and immediate threat to the tremendous gains made since Deng Xiaoping's agricultural reforms in the late 1970s.
China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is the most important event in the country's history since the inception of its "open door" economic policy a quarter-century ago. Trade liberalization will benefit consumers, small entrepreneurs, and foreign investors. But for China's peasants, WTO membership appears to pose a direct and immediate threat to the tremendous gains made since Deng Xiaoping's agricultural reforms in the late 1970s.