Before China entered the World Trade Organization（WTO）in late 2001 many analysts expected considerable adverse impacts on agriculture in general and cotton production in particular. The Sino-US agreement on China’s WTO accession signed in 1999 indeed stipulated imports under a new tariff rate quota（TRQ）system significantly above historical heights. To prepare the cotton sector for the onslaught of foreign competition policy-makers in Beijing introduced a new regulatory system for this industry，i <<