WTO Shanghai Research Center

A non-governmental organization ratified by the state, the WTO Shanghai Research Center (hereinafter referred to as the Center), known as the GATT Shanghai Research Center until January 1, 1995, is an intercollegiate academic society with a history of 18 years. At the suggestion of Gi Chongwei, Executive Director of the State Council Economic Development Research Center, Shen Jueren, Vice Minister of foreign trade and economic cooperation, and Wang Yaotian, professor of the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, the Center was set up in 1986, a time when China was negotiating for the reinstatement of her status as an founder member of party to GATT. The establishment of the Center was also supported by Wang Daohang, mayor of Shanghai, and the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade.

Over the past 18 years, the Center has, with the guidance and support of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, and other social groups, grown into an academic association with great renown both at home and abroad. The members of the Center include experts and scholars from the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, the Shanghai Junior College of Customs, the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Fudan University, and other universities in the country, as well as researchers from government agencies and business circles. Since its establishment, the Center has offered hundreds of training classes of different kinds, published scores of scholarly or translated works, and contributed to about a dozen domestic and international strategic consultation conferences. The State Council Economic Development Research Center, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, and the Shanghai People's Municipal Government have, on several occasions, highly praised the education, publicity and research work bythe Center. The Center regularly hosts large-scale international seminars and symposiums, and has received a large number of scholars, entrepreneurs, and government officials all over the world. During his visit to the Center, Rodgero, the former director general of the WTO, commended the efforts of the Center in helping China enter the WTO at an earlier date. The Center houses several million Swiss Francs' worth of books and materials gifted by WTO, which are essential for WTO research.