Editing Trade (section)

==Trends==

===Doha rounds===
{{Main|Doha round}}

The Doha round of World Trade Organization negotiations aimed to lower [[trade barrier|barriers to trade]] around the world, with a focus on making [[fair trade|trade more fair]] for [[developing countries]]. Talks have been hung over a divide between the rich [[developed countries]], represented by the [[G20]], and the major developing countries. [[Agricultural subsidies]] are the most significant issue upon which agreement has been the hardest to negotiate. By contrast, there was much agreement on [[trade facilitation]] and capacity building. The Doha round began in [[Doha]], Qatar,<ref>{{Cite web |title=WTO {{!}} The Doha Round |url=https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dda_e/dda_e.htm |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=www.wto.org}}</ref> and negotiations were continued in: [[Cancún]], Mexico; [[Geneva]], Switzerland; and [[Paris]], France, and Hong Kong.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}

===China===
{{Main|China shock|Chinese economic reform|China and the World Trade Organization}}

Beginning around 1978, the government of the [[People's Republic of China]] (PRC) began an experiment in [[economic reforms in China|economic reform]]. In contrast to the previous [[USSR|Soviet]]-style [[centrally planned economy]], the new measures progressively relaxed restrictions on farming, agricultural distribution and, several years later, urban enterprises and labor. The more market-oriented approach reduced inefficiencies and stimulated private investment, particularly by farmers, which led to increased productivity and output. One feature was the establishment of four (later five) [[Special Economic Zone]]s located along the South-east coast.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Documents & Reports – The World Bank |url=http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/home |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526022036/http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/home |archive-date=2020-05-26 |access-date=2020-05-26 |website=documents.worldbank.org}}</ref>

The reforms proved spectacularly successful in terms of increased output, variety, quality, [[price]] and [[demand]]. In real terms, the economy doubled in size between 1978 and 1986, doubled again by 1994, and again by 2003. On a real per capita basis, doubling from the 1978 base took place in 1987, 1996 and 2006. By 2008, the economy was 16.7 times the size it was in 1978, and 12.1 times its previous per capita levels. International trade progressed even more rapidly, doubling on average every 4.5 years. Total two-way trade in January 1998 exceeded that for all of 1978; in the first quarter of 2009, trade exceeded the full-year 1998 level. In 2008, China's two-way trade totaled US$2.56 trillion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5700.html|title=Foreign Trade: Data|last=Division|first=US Census Bureau Foreign Trade|website=Census.gov|access-date=2017-05-07|archive-date=2019-02-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212011510/https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5700.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1991 China joined the [[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation]] group, a trade-promotion forum.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.apec.org/About-Us/About-APEC/Member-Economies|title=Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation|access-date=2018-01-22|archive-date=2018-09-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928160451/http://apec.org/About-Us/About-APEC/Member-Economies|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2001, it also joined the World Trade Organization.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/countries_e/china_e.htm|title=China and the WTO|access-date=2018-01-22|archive-date=2017-02-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224134433/https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/countries_e/china_e.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>