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Rating: 
Summary: A fantastic book for any business student
Review: I'm a Vietnamese international student in Boston-USA, I have been haunted by the quest of knowing more of the impacts on the southeast asia region once China entered the WTO. I hoped to predict what would happen in Vietnam once it enters the WTO because VN is likely to follow China's track and how she would deal with it. And this book says it all, it helps me so much in looking for the near future of VN, and what sector of VN needs to be fortified to be ready for the economic fight in the globalization process.This is a well-written book with illustrations and proofs of points. The authors are well-respected in the economics community, as one of them will be the WTO Director General in Sep, 2002, and the other is the Regional Editor for BusinessWeek. The economic impact of China accession is so profound that the book shouldn't be overlooked. This book will help you see the conflicting aspects of state-owned and private-held enterprises in China and the prospect of continuing administrative and economic reforms through the binding of WTO trade laws. I gave the book 5 stars because it deserves to be the best.
Rating:
Summary: An Exellent Report on China and the WTO.
Review: In December 2001, China agreed to join the World Trade Organization. According to projections, economic reforms undertaken since 1978 will help China to increase its GDP to $2.2 trillion by 2010, standing behind the United States, Japan and Germany. This progress raises many serious questions for its internal transformation and her role in the global economy.
The book considers carefully the economic, social and political consequences of this event. The phenomenal success of recent economic growth is attributed to high savings rates, protective laws and strong and effective government policies. However, the great challenges facing China to become a truly modern state are institutional reforms for sustained economic growth.
Based on the World Bank's projections, China would become the world's second largest economy in 2020 with 8% of global output, trailing the United States with a 19% share. If this happens, China's skilled workers would also see the world's highest wage gains, nearly a double increase! Consequently, the great challenge China's government and the World Trade Organization will face is to make sure that all levels of society receive a fair share of its economic growth.
Supachai Panitchpakdi and Mark Clifford correctly believe that globalization and trade promoted by the WTO for all nations, many of which are small, are equally important for China as well. Numerous studies indicate that there is a strong correlation between free trade and growth. Finally, it should be recognized, that China's entry into the WTO will dramatically raise the stakes for its Asian neighbors and rivals. It would attract more foreign investment followed by a higher sustained rate of growth and in turn would increase international trade and development and help other countries to develop their economies as well.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good read But Somewhat Slanted
Review: This book does an excellent job of covering the issues of China & the WTO during globalization. However, it lacks coverage of what this will all mean for Western countries and the jobs that will inevitably be lost here. The previous reviewer contradicted himself by saying: "The phenomenal success of recent economic growth is attributed to high savings rates, *protective laws* and strong and effective government policies." "Protective laws" and Globalization oppose each other. Proponents of globalization say that protectionism and globalization cannot work together. The WTO purports to impose "free trade" on all its member countries. Yet while the west, especially the U.S. is opening its markets, its economies are nosediving. At the same time, China, who as the last reviewer admits practices protectionism is thriving. It's no coincidence. In an Animal Farm kind of way, the last reviewer is kind of saying "Some WTO countries are more equal than others". We either have free trade and all WTO members have to play by the same rules, or else we don't. Why are U.S. markets forced wide open under WTO rules and countries like China are allowed to continue to practice protectionism? The book does not address any of these seeming contradictions in the argument for 'globalization'.
Rating:
Summary: A Good read But Somewhat Slanted
Review: This book does an excellent job of covering the issues of China & the WTO during globalization. However, it lacks coverage of what this will all mean for Western countries and the jobs that will inevitably be lost here. The previous reviewer contradicted himself by saying: "The phenomenal success of recent economic growth is attributed to high savings rates, *protective laws* and strong and effective government policies." "Protective laws" and Globalization oppose each other. Proponents of globalization say that protectionism and globalization cannot work together. The WTO purports to impose "free trade" on all its member countries. Yet while the west, especially the U.S. is opening its markets, its economies are nosediving. At the same time, China, who as the last reviewer admits practices protectionism is thriving. It's no coincidence. In an Animal Farm kind of way, the last reviewer is kind of saying "Some WTO countries are more equal than others". We either have free trade and all WTO members have to play by the same rules, or else we don't. Why are U.S. markets forced wide open under WTO rules and countries like China are allowed to continue to practice protectionism? The book does not address any of these seeming contradictions in the argument for 'globalization'.
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful!
Review: This book is a bit unfocused, but even its tangents are interesting. You get a few pages here on Chinese history, a few pages there of polemic about rich nations' unfair trading practices, here a digression, there a ramble. It's not completely about China and it's not completely about the WTO, though those bases are covered, and the other subjects it touches upon - including Asian regional economics - add to its value. The authors put both sides of the debate over trade in reasonably fair focus. We confirm that what they say about China, while not new, merits mulling over by anyone affected by globalization.
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