Zhu Rongji’s WTO Warning Still Resonates Today
Bastillepost · 1 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
A remembrance of former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji focuses on how he balanced diplomacy, reform and risk during China’s push to join the World Trade Organization. In interviews during ASEAN trips in 2000 and 2001, he argued China’s WTO entry would benefit Asia, while also saying he was personally uneasy about the pressure it could place on Chinese agriculture. The account also recalls his role in easing Southeast Asian concerns, backing regional financial cooperation and promoting the early idea of a China-ASEAN free trade area
Key Points
- After becoming premier in 1998, Zhu Rongji was followed by the writer on overseas trips for five years, during a period the article describes as a turning point in China’s diplomacy
- At the China-ASEAN leaders’ meeting in Singapore on November 23, 2000, Zhu said WTO competition was inevitable but would “absolutely not” threaten neighbouring economies
- Zhu added that if joining the WTO meant threatening Asian partners, China would rather stay out than lose its friends in Asia, according to the account
- At the Brunei China-ASEAN leaders’ meeting on November 5, 2001, five days before China’s formal WTO entry, Zhu said “everyone is happy, except me”
- He explained his biggest concern was agriculture, warning that lower-cost, modern foreign farm production could cut Chinese farmers’ incomes if imports were dumped into China
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong readers, the account revisits a pivotal moment in China’s opening-up that later reshaped regional trade patterns and the economic environment in which Hong Kong operates. It also offers a reminder that major policy breakthroughs can carry uneven costs, even when they are widely celebrated at the time