China's accession to the WTO

Impact on ethnic women in minority rural areas

By: Xiaoyun, L et al.
Produced by: Country Analytic Work (CAW) 2004

This study assesses the exact impact of the WTO entry on the minority women in ethnic rural areas in China. The results indicate that the entry to WTO has actually brought about significant impacts on rural minority women. Findings of the study include:

• the elimination of export subsidies and tariffs for agricultural products has caused a price decline in products such as cotton, soybeans, sugarcane and wool, negatively impacting the welfare of ethnic women, whose incomes mainly derive from agriculture
• the increased amount of imported agricultural products replaces local production equivalently; employment opportunities might therefore decline and it should be remembered that ethnic women face more difficulties in entering the non-agriculture market than do men
• women’s education and health conditions have no direct, definite changes after China’s entrance into the WTO, however, the high relationship between rural girls’ education and economic conditions have indicated the potential risk of discontinuation of female’s education, under a situation of income decline.