* March 2002: China�s ascension to participation in the WTO�s Information Technology Agreement is postponed due to its continuation of import duties on some 200 items of advanced technology. China has agreed to eliminate the tariffs only for those products that are guaranteed to fuel domestic industries.
~ Neil J. Beck, policy analyst
* April-May 2003: The rampant SARS epidemic kills 125 Chinese, infects 2500 residents of Beijing, and forces an overall 18000 Chinese into quarantine.
* Travel in China has suffered a catastrophic blow, as hotel occupancy hovers around 33%. Orders of meat products from China have dropped 87%. The value of foreign contracts has dropped 50 to 80 percent, while a partial closing of the border with Russia greatly impedes northward mobility of goods. China's GDP growth has been offset by 1.3%, and it may experience a trade deficit for the first time in a decade. Government refusal to initially admit the existence of a widespread problem is likely to further heighten distrust of the CCP's management and any countermeasures that will be offered to this crisis.
