Wang champions multilateralism

The Group of 20 should take the lead in championing multilateralism and the operation of multilateral mechanisms should not be thwarted for selfish gains, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday.

Wang made the remarks while addressing the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Nagoya, the last major event hosted under the 2019 Japanese presidency of the group.

"Amid the growing downturn risk of the world economy and the rising unilateralism and protectionism, the world is facing instability and uncertainty," Wang said, adding that "We cannot sit by idly but should take actions".

To that end, Wang said the G20 should take the lead in championing multilateralism and offering feasible solutions for the healthy development of the world economy.

The world economy has suffered a remarkable slowdown since last year, with the International World Monetary Funds' World Economic Outlook issued in October downgrading growth for 2019 to 3 percent, its slowest pace since the 2008 financial crisis.

The reason for that, the report said, is "higher tariffs and prolonged uncertainty surrounding trade policy have dented investment and demand for capital goods, which are heavily traded".

As a result, trade volume growth in the first half of 2019 was 1 percent, the weakest level since 2012.

"The rules-based multilateral trading regime must be upheld. Necessary reform should be conducted with regards to the World Trade Organization. We should foster an open, fair, nondiscriminatory playing field and support the continued special and differentiated treatment of developing countries," Wang said.

"Certain countries should not thwart the normal operation of multilateral mechanisms for selfish gains," he added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a similar view, saying: "The issues of open and free global trade system are central to discussions, knowing that there is a growth of protectionism, the growth of what's being called 'trade wars' and many other things that have to be dealt with."

Calling for deeper discussions to "make efforts to boost free and fair trade", Japanese Foreign Minister and chairman of the G20 foreign ministers gathering, Toshimitsu Motegi said, "As trust in the multilateral framework is now being undermined, the G20 has shared the view that the WTO should be reformed so that it can address several current issues."

Liu Qingbin, a professor at the Institute of Advanced Sciences at Yokohama National University said a majority of countries in the G20 had apprehended the significance of upholding multilateralism and free trade, the urgent task right now is to realize the "good will" by reforming multilateral mechanisms such as the WTO.

"China's proposal of focusing on 'early harvests' in WTO reform should be given attention because it is a practicable way to carry out reforms, which means shelving issues of principles that are difficult to generate consensus on and solve the pressing problems first," Liu said.

"For example, Appellate Body reform, fisheries subsidies, e-commerce and investment facilitation among others are areas that can produce favorable outcomes in the short term and by doing so, all parties could seek common ground while reserving differences," Liu added.