Joint Research Project:
Open for Business? China's Telecommunications Market and the WTO
2009

China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 after almost 15 years of negotiations, making extensive commitments to open its markets to foreign investment and trade. This project examines the extent to which China is meeting its WTO obligations in the telecommunications sector, which is of particular concern to countries such as Australia and the United States. China represents a huge potential market for foreign telecommunications service providers, and vigorous competition in this field would significantly benefit the Chinese and international economies (and hence national and global welfare) by reducing transaction costs and facilitating trade in other areas.

This project is jointly funded by Telstra and the University of Melbourne.

Chief Investigators: Dr Tania Voon (Senior Lecturer, Melbourne Law School) and Dr Andrew Mitchell (Senior Lecturer, Melbourne Law School).

Principal Collaborating Research Partner: Mr Danny Kotlowitz (Legal Counsel, Public Policy & Communications, Telstra Corporation Limited).