Abstract
One of the great benefits coming along with China’s new XWTO membership card is the availability of the WTO dispute settlement proceedings. As former United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky declared after U.S. Senate voted to approve the PNTR for China: “China… will join the community governed by the rule of law.”‘ WTO rules are enforced through the WTO Dispute Settlement System (DSS), governed by the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSUy), which is one cornerstone of the 1994 Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO. After the Uruguay Round, trade dispute settlement, through the DSS, has moved to the center stage of international economic diplomacy, and has been working reasonably well? During the past seven years, the number of disputes submitted to the WTO had considerably increased to over 236 by August 31, 2001, ten times the number under the GATT.