China began to move towards a new trade era in 1999, when prohibition limitations on products such as beef, citrus and grain where lifted, which also led to a market-access agreement being made between China and the United States of America. These two major developments in the country started them on a road to become part of the World Trade Organization, whereby market impediments were taken away and tariffs lowered. During 2000, China came to an agreement with the EU and the World Trade Organization, with negotiations concluding in 2001. Since then China has flourished in trade development and growth.

China has enjoyed annual growth in foreign trade each year, and by 2008 it was recorded that the country had surpassed the $2.4 trillion mark in global trade. And it is for remarkable achievements such as these, that the World Trade Organization praised China at a recent meeting, for their remarkable contributions to the trade industry. It is expected that China will contribute a growth of approximately ten percent this year, bouncing back after a rather rough year in 2009 with the global economy being in crisis. Pascal Lamy, the chief of the World Trade Organization, spoke to Shanghai reporters and commented that China is a country that continues to develop and is active in the world economy, and while they are a force in global trade, they pride themselves on adhering to the rules of the World Trade Organization. The Ministry of Commerce confirmed their dedication to the WTO, by saying: "The nation has fully fulfilled its commitments and set up a trade mechanism in line with the WTO rules. The Chinese market is now one of the most open markets worldwide."

Pascal Lamy went on to say: "China's strong economic growth and its demand for imports are important factors in the stabilization of the global economy." China even went as far as to decrease their commodities tariffs to 9.8 percent last year, as the tariff was set at 15.2 in the years preceding 2001. It is believed that China will continue to develop their global trade market and continue to grow into a force to be reckoned with.

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