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China marks 20 years at the WTO, with a wary eye on rising costs and Western tensions
- Since joining the World Trade Organization in 2001, China has changed from an agricultural backwater into the world’s second largest economy
- But it faces challenges from low-cost developing nations and rivalry with advanced economies producing capital and technology-intensive products
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When Hong Kong businessman Chai Kwong-wah decided to open a factory in Shenzhen in 1993, cheap land and labour were top considerations for his Hello Kitty and Disney toy business.
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The local government rolled out the red carpet, offering 1.2 acres of land for 30 years at 1 million yuan (US$157,000), just as the small border city was designated a special economic zone and export hub by former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.
However, it was after 2001, when the mainland gained entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), that Chai’s business took off. Japanese, American and European orders flooded in, boosting his workforce to 10,000 at its peak.
“China has developed much more than I expected at the time,” said the 72 year old.
Millions of manufacturers, either privately owned, government controlled or foreign funded, mushroomed in China’s coastal provinces, delivering cheap but good-quality consumer goods to households across the world and transforming the country from an agricultural backwater into the world’s second largest economy.
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Chai, despite being a beneficiary of the process, was eventually defeated by rising production costs and, in 2016, his factory was demolished to give way to local subway construction.
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