It is exactly 10 years since China concluded negotiations to join the World Trade Organisation, after a decade and a half of demurring. Commerce minister Chen Deming chaired a celebratory forum in Xiamen this week entitled “Openness, co-operation and win-win”.

　　中国结束谈判成功加入世界贸易组织(WTO)已整整10年，在此之前曾遭遇长达15年的犹豫。中国商务部部长陈德铭上周在厦门主持了题为“开放，合作，共赢”的论坛以示庆祝。

　　Not quite. Yes, China is co-operating. After a diffident start, it has evolved from a passive taker of the existing rules to a member that will “shake” the rules for its own interests or even make new ones, notes Henry Gao of Singapore Management University. That is a good thing. And if “openness” implies compliance with the commitments China made in its accession package, here, too, the record is broadly positive.

　　事实未必完全如此。没错，中国正在参与合作。新加坡管理大学教授高树超(Henry Gao)指出，从最初的不自信开始，中国已逐渐从一个被动接受现有规则的成员，逐步演变成一个愿意为自身利益而“撼动”原有规则，甚至愿意订立新规则的成员。这是一件好事。而且，如果“开放”指的是中国履行了加入世贸时作出的承诺，那么这项纪录大体来说也不错。

　　Granted, China is better at complying with rules that require a specific action, such as scrapping or reducing tariffs, than those that require adherence to principles, such as not favouring domestic enterprises, or treating all WTO members equally. No nation has entered into bilateral trade agreements over the past 10 years quite as enthusiastically as China.

　　当然，中国更擅长于遵守的，是那些需要作出具体行动的规则，例如取消或减免关税，而并非那些要求坚持原则的规则，例如不偏袒国内企业、或者对所有世贸组织成员一视同仁。在过去十年中，没有任何一个国家像中国这样，对建立双边贸易协定如此热衷。

　　As for “win-win”, well, China is certainly winning. In 2000 it was the world’s seventh largest exporter and eighth largest importer of merchandise; in 2010 it was number one and two, respectively. (It has leapt to four and three in services, from 10 and 12.) As ING points out, accession to the WTO marked an acceleration of real annual gross domestic product growth from 9 percent (1992-2001) to 11 percent (2002-2008). Two-way trade for most nations in China’s orbit has also risen dramatically. But, as America’s increasingly critical assessments of China’s WTO compliance suggests, those trading partners do not always feel like winners. During its relatively brief membership, the world’s second-largest economy has responded to 22 complaints – more than the next three put together.

　　至于在“双赢”方面，中国毫无疑问是赢家。 2000年，它是世界第七大商品出口国和第八大商品进口国；而到2010年，上述排名已分别跃升为第一和第二。（在服务出口和进口的国家排名中，中国也分别从第十和十二名，跃居第四和第三。）正如ING所指出的，加入世贸组织，已令中国的实际GDP年增长率从1992年至2001年的9%，加快至2002年至2008年的11%。中国周边多数国家的双向贸易额也得到了快速增长。但是，从美国对于中国履行入世承诺所作出的日趋批评性的评估看，中国的贸易伙伴们并不总能感到自己也是赢家。在中国还算相对短暂的世贸成员生涯中，全球第二大经济体已回应了22项申诉 —— 超过位于其排名之后的三个经济体所遭遇的申诉总和。