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Why China Wanted to Join Faced with the complexities of joining WTO, and the fact that joining meant China's laws, trade policies, and domestic business regulation would have to change dramatically, why would China's leaders place such importance on this step? Part of the answer can be found in the dynamics between reforms in China, world events, and policy decisions made by WTO member countries, in particular the United States. While China is not a democratic or particularly open society, people have competing interests that shape what happens there. Although it is not always apparent from the outside, Beijing does not represent all of China; MOFTEC does not represent all central ministries; and Zhu Rongji does not represent all of the central leadership. Debates, uncertainty, and foot-dragging within China about the benefits of changing to fit the norms of international capitalism are additional reasons why the process of joining took so long. Once a consensus was reached at the highest levels of leadership in early 1999, however, formal debate over the wisdom of joining was forbidden. Prohibiting debate angered academics, journalists, and others who understand the importance of airing different views; and the prohibition of debate did not end the opposition.

Somewhat unexpectedly, the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in September 2001 led to a flurry of negotiations and compromises that cleared the final hurdles for China's membership. President Jiang Zeming, in his call to President Bush immediately after September 11, reportedly asked that this issue among others not be lost in the events that would follow the attacks. The tenacity of China's leaders' push to join WTO over a decade and a half is remarkable in the light of difficult transition challenges and serious opposition at home.