BEIJING, Dec 11: China became the 143rd member of the World Trade Organization on Tuesday, ending a marathon battle for accession and sending the nation on a long and uncertain journey towards wholesale economic reform.

China and its 1.3 billion people joined the global commerce club at the stroke of midnight following a 30-day waiting period which began when a WTO meeting in Qatar approved Chinese accession.

The country has already moved a considerable distance away from fully planned communist economics and WTO membership seems certain to push it still further into the turbulent mainstream of the open market.

As membership was sealed, finally ending a negotiation process which began in 1986, China vowed to participate fully in the workings of the WTO.

China will take an active role in the new round of multilateral trade negotiations of the WTO and hopes to play a positive and constructive role along with other members, said a statement by China’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation released by state media at midnight.

This is a historic moment in China’s reform and opening-up and the process of modernisation, added a front page editorial in the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily.

WTO entry caps a memorable 2001 for China, which has already seen Beijing secure the 2008 Olympics and the country’s footballers qualify for their first World Cup Finals.

The optimism is, however, tinged with a great degree of caution and uncertainty as to how the country’s previously sheltered economy, already undergoing with major reform, will cope.

China will be facing growing foreign competition at a time when it is already carrying out important structural reforms in its domestic economy.

China’s cabinet, the State Council, admitted only hours after WTO entry became final that much of the country’s economy was still in turmoil.

Despite efforts at reform, the economy is still plagued by rampant counterfeiting, fraud and protectionism, and it is clear that chaos still exists in certain areas and industries, said a hard-hitting report released Tuesday morning.

Following WTO membership, over a period stretching over several years China will gradually remove many of its barriers to foreign trade and investment.

Analysts say while some sectors such as textiles, footwear and electronics could gain under freer trading rules, others could be devastated.

Banking, insurance and heavy industries such as steel and petrochemicals are expected to sustain heavy shocks, and many observers say WTO entry could spell disaster for China’s estimated 900 million farmers.

To underline the potential difficulties, official figures showed Tuesday that growth in industrial output had slowed to 7.9 per cent year-on-year, the lowest rate for 10 months, meaning China could be facing WTO entry while its economy is simultaneously hit by a global slowdown.—AFP