As of late february 1999 the united states and china are involved in intensive negotiations toward concluding an agreement on terms for chinas proposed accession to the world trade organization wto chinas accession to the wto was first published in early 1998 shortly following president jiang zemins widely reported state visit to the united states that visit generated tempered optimism that an agreement on terms of wto accession might be concluded over the following year. Accession of china to the wto b the peoples republic of china 1 background on china the government of china and the communist party of china cpc discriminate harass 2 commission recommendations on china as of may 1 2000 the date on which the commission is releasing this . Chinas accession to the world trade organization wto in december 2001 was heralded by the international community as a victory for free trade and economic liberalization during its arduous 15 year accession process china made extensive commitments to reform domestically and reduce trade barriers