(Originally published on 06/01/2011)

On the afternoon of Wednesday 1 June 2011, the United Nations hosted Mr Long Yongtu, Secretary General of Centre for the Study of G20, at a meeting of the China in the World UN Theme Group. Mr Long led China's negotiations to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ten years ago, and was previously commended by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his outstanding contribution to the UN. In his talk, Mr Long discussed the changes that have occurred since China joined the WTO, and what affects the accession has had on China, both for governance and everyday life. Mr Long noted that there were several key areas in that had changed since 2001, particularly Chinese attitudes and understanding of the outside world. He spoke about what had gone as expected, what has been different, and what lessons might be learned by other countries hoping to join the WTO in the future.

Mr Long's presentation was attended by 10 Ambassadors, as well as around 90 other participants from Embassies and the UN System. The meeting was chaired by Ms Anthea Webb, WFP Director and Representative, who asked Mr Long to round off his presentation by telling the audience what he thought, in a nutshell, was the key piece of advice for any country hoping to join the WTO. Mr Long replied that becoming a member of the WTO should not be seen just as an end in itself, but that the process of joining was an opportunity to learn and to better understand the world economy.