China’s Implementation of the Rulings of the World Trade Organization

The value of Zhou’s book is its depth and the framework it provides. With regard to the depth, Zhou goes into great detail on the Chinese measures at issue, the specific WTO dispute settlement rulings, and the response by China. For each element, he offers a guide to how the dispute originated, played out, and ultimately concluded. -- Simon Lester and Huan Zhu, Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute * Journal of World Investment & Trade *
This is a timely and thoughtful study that merits considerable attention by WTO followers, especially at this time when the WTO dispute settlement system is undergoing significant challenges. As one of the most active players in WTO dispute settlement, China’s compliance record is an important measure of the strengths of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism more generally. Dr. Zhou’s analysis is measured in tone and the discussion is balanced. The descriptions of the disputes are well done and the analytical approach of organizing disputes according to subject matter makes this work an ideal research tool. This book is a highly useful addition to the WTO literature. -- Valerie Hughes, Senior Counsel, Bennett Jones LLP; former Director of the Legal Affairs Division and Director of the Appellate Body Secretariat of the World Trade Organization
Dr Weihuan Zhou’s excellent and balanced book provides a much needed and long awaited antidote to the largely uninformed attacks on China’s compliance with the rulings of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body. As this book shows, it is only through a comprehensive analysis of China’s responses to WTO rulings that one can see the truth of China’s compliance – which is not as a scofflaw, but rather, as one would expect from any large and complex economy, as a generally rule abiding participant. This is an important finding given China’s stature within the world, for it is critical that China be fully accepted into the international economic legal order but that cannot happen if there are widespread misunderstandings about China’s compliance in the WTO. Dr Zhou’s excellent and fair analysis of China’s WTO ruling compliance should consequently play a vital role in normalising China’s role in the world. -- Professor Colin B Picker, Pro Vice Chancellor (South Western Sydney) and Dean, School of Law, Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts, the University of Wollongong
In the midst of a US-China “trade war,” one frequent refrain has been that China does not comply with WTO rules, and therefore the WTO cannot deal with China’s trade practices. Compliance with the full scope of WTO obligations is difficult to assess, but responses to WTO complaints and compliance with specific WTO panel and Appellate Body rulings can be judged through a careful and rigorous analysis. Weihuan Zhou has provided this analysis in his well-researched book. Academics, students, policy-makers and other observers would all benefit from reading this objective review of China’s experience as the subject of WTO complaints. -- Simon Lester, President, WorldTradeLaw.net and Associate Director, Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute
Dr. Weihuan Zhou has written an essential reference work for anyone who is interested in China and international law in general, and the impact of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism on China in particular. -- Professor Julia Ya Qin, Wayne State University Law School, USA