US statement on WTO reform criticized

Experts expressed strong opposition to the United States' intention to unilaterally challenge the developing-nation status of some World Trade Organization members.

The words came as the White House issued a memorandum on Friday aimed at changing the WTO approach to flexibilities associated with developing-nation status.

It claimed that nearly two-thirds of WTO members have been able to use the special treatment and to seek weaker commitments under the WTO framework by designating themselves as developing nations. The memorandum cited China as an example.

Wei Jianguo, former vice-minister of commerce, said it is an indisputable fact that China has yet to become a developed country, although the country has been striving to achieve this status.

"China's aggregate economic data points to continued growth, but its per capita GDP is still relatively low," said Wei, who is now vice-president of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, a major government think tank.

China's population is more than four times that of the US, based on 2018 statistics. Per capita income of the US is 6.38 times greater than that of China in nominal terms, according to Statistics Times.

Wei said the country's economic structure has undergone major adjustments, but its industrial structure still illustrates a large gap compared with developed countries.

Judging from various facts, China remains the largest developing country in the world, said Yang Weiyong, an economics professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. Yang said China has significantly enhanced integration between urban and rural areas, but there's still unbalanced development.

He said China, as a WTO member, has never abused the special and differential treatment - provisions of the WTO agreements that give developing countries special rights. China has always assumed the responsibilities that are compatible with its own development level, he said.

Since its accession to the international organization, China has fulfilled its commitments, and by 2010, the country had fulfilled all of its tariff reduction commitments, reducing the average tariff level from 15.3 percent in 2001 to 9.8 percent, according to a government white paper.

For instance, the country cut the average tariff rate of agricultural products from 23.2 percent to 15.2 percent, about one-fourth of the global average and far lower than those imposed by the WTO's developing members (56 percent) and developed members (39 percent), the paper said.

Cheng Dawei, an international trade professor at the School of Economics at Renmin University of China, said: "The US memorandum arbitrarily lists clauses that threaten other countries. It links many issues, like the status of developing countries, with national security. It seriously tramples WTO rules.

"China, along with other developing countries, will never allow the US to use a simple way to redefine other countries' status. Existing WTO rules need to be respected, while US unilateralism should be resolutely opposed," she said.

"When reforming the WTO, development should be sought as a goal, with a focus on solving the deficits issue," Cheng said. The emphasis on development reflects a broad respect for the basic needs of human beings and the ultimate call for major paradigm shifts in the international economic system, she added.

Speaking at the WTO General Council Meeting in March, Ambassador Zhang Xiangchen of China said the core issue of development is not whether developing nation members are willing to make greater contributions in future negotiations, but rather if they can have equal rights in negotiations.

"For some, the only thing they see is the differences in the level of commitments among the members. What they have failed to see is the structural imbalance in the multilateral trade negotiations. Who sets the negotiations agenda? Who leads the negotiations process? Who has more say in shaping the negotiations outcome?"

jingshuiyu@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Global 07/29/2019 page1)