Recarding the issue of the competitiveness of Chinese agriculture after the accession to WTO

To increase agricultural production and secure the food supply for its 1.2 billion people, China selected a policy of far-reaching state intervention and the introduction of some market economic principles. For joining the WT O, China is committed to open its domestic markets, cautiously, to internat ional competition. An initial step in doing this has been the reduction of import tariffs on primary agricultural products. This paper reports the results of cost analysis for six important commoditi es to test the international competitiveness of Chinese agriculture. The re sults suggest that opening markets reducing protection by joining the WTO w ill have multi-layered effects on the development in Chinese agriculture. I n particular, China's WTO accession will have a braking effect on the produ ction growth at least in the short term. To improve the competitiveness of Chinese agriculture, the government should eliminate the present system-ind uced disadvantages such as the delivery quota system and the farm structure through a further land reform. This could encourage regionalisation of Chi nese agricultural production based on comparative cost advantages. Adoption of new agricultural technologies through strengthening "green box''-measur es is of critical importance for increasing agricultural productivity and i mproving the competitiveness of Chinese agriculture.