GOING GLOBAL:Mutual benefits have come from China's WTO entry (XINHUA)

Trickle-down effect

China's WTO accession has benefited not only the 1.3 billion citizens of China, but also many more people across the globe.

During the past 10 years, China has imported $750 billion worth of goods on average each year, and has created more than 14 million jobs for its trading partners. Foreign invested enterprises in China remitted a total of $261.7 billion in profits, representing an average annual growth of 30 percent.

Thanks to imported Chinese goods, American consumers saved more than $600 billion in spending in the past decade, and every family in the EU saved up to 300 euros every year.

Apart from developed countries, China's WTO accession has also brought tangible benefits to other countries, particularly to the developing economies in Asia and Africa, said Kandeh K. Yumkella, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

The Sino-African bilateral trade volume grew 10-fold between 2000 and 2008. By July 2010, African products that enjoy zero-tariff treatment had increased to 4,700 taxable items, and 95 percent of the total taxable items mentioned in the regulations of China's import and export duties are expected to be covered. From 2005 to the end of June 2010, China had imported African products with an accumulated value of $1.32 billion under zero-tariff terms, including agricultural products, leather, stone materials, textiles and garments, machine spare parts, base metals and wood products.

In the eyes of Yumkella, a native of Sierra Leone, China is admired, and even envied for its rapid development. "Africa has a vision that, with the aid of China, it will become the next major manufacturing hub in the world," he said, adding that Africa is hoping to sell "chocolate" as China did rather than solely "cocoa." This sentiment signifies the changes in China's role in the international division of labor, especially since its accession to the WTO, which is manifested in the upgrading of its industries and the expansion of industrial chains.

"I believe Africa can and should learn from China's innovation, turning cocoa into chocolate," said Yumkella. "This is our African dream."