This Day, That Year

Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

On Dec 11, 2001, China finally became the 143rd member of the World Trade Organization after difficult negotiations spread over 15 years.

China submitted its application to join on July 10, 1986, seeking to resume its "contracting party status" at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the WTO's predecessor. This move later led to China joining the WTO after the new global trade body was formed in 1995 to replace GATT. An item from Nov 12, 2001, in China Daily, showed Shi Guangsheng, then minister of foreign trade and economic cooperation, signing the membership protocol with the WTO in Doha.

It ushered in a new chapter in the history of the country's reform and opening-up process.

With China entering the WTO, the country has boosted the global trade system and offered huge market potential for international investors and business circles.

WTO membership has significantly invigorated Chinese companies and the economy, with China making far greater progress than expected in the past 18 years.

Since then, China's GDP has grown nearly 10-fold, from $1.34 trillion in 2001 to $13.28 trillion last year. The country has become the world's second-largest economy in nominal GDP, trailing only the United States. The International Monetary Fund estimates that, based on purchasing power parity, the Chinese economy has exceeded that of the US since 2013.

By 2010, China had fulfilled all its tariff reduction commitments, cutting the average level from 15.3 percent in 2001 to 9.8 percent.

Last year, its trade in goods reached $4.62 trillion, compared with $509.8 billion in 2001.

In 2001, China's goods exports were $266.1 billion.

It overtook the US in 2007 and Germany in 2009 to become the largest exporter of goods.

Last year, its export volume increased to $4.62 trillion, up 16.2 percent year-on-year. The country imported $2.14 trillion worth of goods last year.