The Study Of Law Issues About China’s Agricultural Subsidies Under WTO Framework

With the process of economic integration, agriculture has become an importantissue at home and abroad. As the foundation of the national economy, it is related tothe survival and the development of mankind. This is why the governments attachgreat importance to the agriculture. In order to encourage their agriculture exports andenhance the competitiveness of agricultural products, thereby increasing the level ofdevelopment of their agriculture, governments have taken agriculture subsidies tosupport their agricultural development. However, different agricultural subsidies havedifferent effects. The "yellow box" will distort agriculture trade and development, butthe "developing box" and "de minims" are exceptions. The "green box" and the "bluebox" have no or only a small role in distorting agricultural trade, therefore they areallowed to use. At present, China’ subsidies policy and legislation is still in its infancy.Compared to Europe and the United States and other developed countries, there is stilla large gap. This requires our deep analysis of the provisions of the WTO Agreementon Agriculture. Besides we should actively learn advanced practice in developedcountries so as to find a suitable way for the agricultural development of China.Therefore, how to actively improve our agricultural subsidies’ s legal system underthe WTO framework becomes the key issue to be urgently addressed today.The first part of this paper describes the practical root of agricultural subsidies aswell as its legal definition, pointing out that the economic, political, and social rootsof agricultural subsidies. At the same time, it defines the meaning of agriculturalsubsidies. The second part is to analyze the rules of agricultural subsidies under the WTO framework, specifically addressed the rule of export subsidies and the rule ofdomestic support, introducing the concept and the classification of them. The thirdpart is an overview of agricultural subsidies policy and legislation of the relevantWTO members, to find some ideas which can be used to improve China’s agriculturaltrade. The fourth part is based on the introduction of China’s current policy andlegislation, describing the complements after China’s accession to the WTO, and putforward specific recommendations to improve China’s policy and legal system ofagricultural subsidies.