In a major shift in policy, China has announced that it will no longer seek the special treatment reserved for developing countries under World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements.
Speaking in New York while he was in the U.S. to attend the United Nations General Assembly, Chinese Premier Li Qiang declared that his country would no longer seek the special treatment given to developing countries in WTO agreements. Beijing said the decision aims to strengthen the global trading system amid rising protectionism and tariff wars. It noted is still part of the developing world, the move reflects its growing global economic influence as the world’s second-largest economy.
Chinese officials said Beijing’s decision was voluntary and not meant to suggest that other developing countries should follow suit. “It’s China’s own decision,” China’s top envoy to the WTO, Li Yihong, told reporters in Geneva.
Leaders, including WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, welcome China's move, saying it was a key step toward reforming the organisation. The U.S. has demanded that China, India and other larger countries give up the benefits of being a developing country at the WTO and called for reforming the trade body. How will China's decision influence the functioning of the body and how will it affect India's prospects at the WTO?
Guest: Abhijit Das, International Trade Policy and WTO Expert, and the former Professor & Head, Center for WTO Studies.
Host: Nivedita V
Edited by Jude Francis Weston
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