Beijing Jeep Co. and The WTO 1 In May 2000, the Beijing Jeep Corporation, Ltd. (BJC) faced one of the most challenging periods of its relatively short.

China is going to entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) In order to join the WTO, China had to agree to liberalize its financial markets. It also had to allow for more foreign investment in firms engaged in electronic commerce, entertainment, travel and tourism and other industries. In addition, trade tariffs had to be reduced on a wide range of agricultural and manufactured products – including a reduction in the tariffs on imported automobiles from one hundred per cent to twenty-five per cent by 2006 that would lower the entry barriers to Chinese automotive industry. The company had also spent many years cultivating relationships with senior government officials–what the Chinese refer to as guanxi–to help it achieve its objectives. And since over forty per cent of its product’s content was produced in China, BJC had operated as a local manufacturer under heavy protection from imports for all of its short life. The political and economic climate in China was still undergoing a major transformation begun in 1978. China planned to achieve ‘socialist modernization’ through economic reform and opening up to the outside world. Jeep was the second most recognizable foreign brand name in China, The situation was particularly attractive for Jeep as China was perhaps the world's biggest potential market for 4WD vehicles because of its rugged, rural landscape and heavy emphasis on agriculture. As the first major foreign joint venture, BJC had learned to do things the hard way, it is possible that BJC’s guanxi advantage would count for less in the future

Production History – Production Volume

Calendar Year | Cherokee | BJseries | Total | 1984 |