China's role in free, open trade crucial

GENEVA — China has been a strong supporter of the multilateral trading system, and as a critical economy for the world, China's role in the free and open trading system is very important, World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a recent interview.

Okonjo-Iweala said the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference, or MC12, held in June was successful and "China played a very important role in that".

The MC13 will be held in February next year, and "we hope it will be equally successful, but it will need every single WTO member, including China, to work together", she added.

Underpinned by WTO rules, the multilateral trading system has delivered very well for the world, Okonjo-Iweala said.

She called on the WTO members to strengthen the multilateral trading system. "It is not a time to decouple into different trading blocs and we should avoid protectionist measures," she said.

According to WTO's annual trade statistics and outlook report released last week, global trade will grow 1.7 percent this year, higher than last October's estimate of 1 percent. As a "key factor" in this increase, China's adjustment of its COVID-19 measures is expected to boost international trade, the report said.

Okonjo-Iweala pointed out that China's adjustment of COVID-19 measures has been helpful for global trade growth. China is one of the biggest sources of services trade in the world, and the recovery of Chinese outbound tourism will boost the global tourism industry.

China is contributing to global trade performance. China "carries a very big weight" because a lot of its trade is not only with developed countries like the United States and European countries, but also with other developing countries, she said.

"We want China to do well (in trade), so that other developing countries … countries in Africa, for instance, can also do well," she said.

Xinhua