<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (June 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (June 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> China became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 11 December 2001 . The admission of China to the WTO was preceded by a lengthy process of negotiations and required significant changes to the Chinese economy . It signified China's deeper integration into the world economy . </P> <P> Until the 1970s, China's economy was managed by the communist government and was kept closed from other economies . Together with political reforms, China in the early 1980s began to open its economy and signed a number of regional trade agreements . China gained observer status with GATT and from 1986, began working towards joining that organization . China aimed to be included as a WTO founding member (which would validate it as a world economic power) but this attempt was thwarted because United States, European countries, and Japan requested that China first reform various tariff policies, including tariff reductions, open markets and industrial policies . </P>

When did china become a member of the wto