WTO talks to focus on key issues

GENEVA－The World Trade Organization's 12th Ministerial Conference, or MC12, opened at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sunday.

During the four-day meeting, members of the trade organization will hold discussions on issues such as Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights waiver for COVID-19 vaccines, pandemic response, fishery subsidies, agriculture, food security, as well as the WTO's reform and its future work priorities.

Opening the WTO's first ministerial meeting in nearly five years, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said to "expect a rocky, bumpy road with a few land mines along the way".

The work of the WTO has made progress, and draft documents have been formed on key issues such as the TRIPS waiver, pandemic response, fishery subsidies, agriculture and food security. She hoped that more results could be achieved during the ministerial meeting.

China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, who attended the meeting in Geneva, said the WTO-centered multilateral trading system is the cornerstone of international trade, and China is willing to work with all parties to promote the WTO to play a bigger role in global economic recovery.

The Ministerial Conference, which is attended by trade ministers and other senior officials from the organization's 164 members, is the WTO's highest decision-making body and is generally held every two years.

Kazakhstan was originally scheduled to host MC12 in June 2020, but the conference was postponed due to the pandemic.

Xinhua - Agencies