WTO Dispute Settlement

King & Wood is at the forefront of PRC firms litigating WTO dispute settlement cases. Prior to China's Accession to the WTO, King & Wood had already conducted extensive research into the relevant legal issues. The successful accession to the WTO by China has provided King & Wood with an opportunity to share its expertise in this area with our clients.

In 2002, King & Wood represented the Chinese government in initiating a dispute settlement proceeding against the U.S. challenging its global safeguard measures on steel. This was the first time China participated in the WTO dispute settlement mechanism since its accession to the WTO in 2001.

Shortly after this first dispute, China began to play a more active role in WTO dispute settlement. This is in part reflected in its participation in many disputes as a third party. King & Wood has represented the Chinese government in more than a dozen third party cases. In addition, as of Feb. 2009, China has been involved in 17 WTO disputes, either as a complainant or as a respondent. As a leader in this area, King & Wood has represented the Chinese government in more than half of these cases.