Trading and distribution rights were major issues in the negotiation of China’s entry to the World Trade Organisation, a process which took 14 years before concluding in late 2001. Trading rights, i.e. the right to import and export goods, had historically been mainly restricted to a small number of largely sector-specific state-owned monopoly trading enterprises. Trading rights were modestly liberalised in the years preceding China’s entry, but generally remained tightly restricted.
Lester Ross and Kenneth Zhou, "Trading and Distribution in China" (April 2005). Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Antitrust Series. Working Paper 60.
