WTO'S National Treatment And It's Implementation In China

The principle of National Treatment is a kind of open policy which is developed from frequent communications with foreign countries (regions). The contribution of WTO is just appling this principle into trading area and any other related areas and having most of countries in the world accept it. Under the WTO, National Treatment Principle emphasizes the equality of human beings and goods of inside and outside in legal status and also the thoughts of free economy. It is one of the fundamental principles of WTO system.China, as the member of WTO, has been pre-conditioned by the thirty years economic evolution and open-up and the establishment of the market economy system to apply National Treatment Principle in any area of China. Moreover, the greatness of the China market, abundant labor resources and the stable society all these factors together have created a good condition for China to apply the National Treatment Principle. However, the status of the development of economy has decided China is a developing country. The development of economy in different regions or different industries is imbalanced and there are still many practical problems for China to fully apply the National Treatment Principle under WTO system.This paper focuses on the discussion of National Treatment Principle under WTO system and the application thereof in China. It consists of four chapters: Chapter I generally summarizes National Treatment including the understanding of concept, legal characters and the historic evolution of National Treatment. Chapter II deeply researches the application of National Treatment Principle in the main WTO agreements including General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Investment Measures (TRIMs) and the exceptions thereof. Meanwhile, it also gives some expectations for the negotiations of new subjects related to National Treatment Principle. Chapter III introduces the status of China's application of National Treatment Principle under the WTO. Meantime, it analyses various factors that inhibit the application of National Treatment Principle and points out the problems therein. Chapter IV focuses on China's practice in applying National Treatment Principle under the WTO. According to China's situation, it proposes some countermeasures and suggestions from legal aspects.