China’s WTO membership reshaped the country and global supply chains, but progress belies a future rife with uncertainty

From their various vantage points in major trade hubs, three businessmen have had front-row seats to China’s economic ascension since it joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001.

And the 20-year journey has been a lucrative one for Li Yixin, a Shanghai-based independent investor in his forties; Liu Kaiming, a Shenzhen-based supply-chain specialist; and Chai Kwong-wah, 72, from Hong Kong.