The World Trade Organisation (WTO) headquarters are pictured in Geneva, Switzerland. Photo: Reuters
SCMP: China refuses to give up ‘developing country’ status at WTO, despite US demands
* China calls the special and differential treatment a ‘fundamental right’, saying it will not cede to Trump’s demands on World Trade Organisation reform
* China says it will team with other developing members, including India, South Africa and Venezuela, to win the battle over future of WTO
China will refuse to give up the “special and differential treatment” it enjoys as a developing nation at the World Trade Organisation, in a rebuke to a US proposal that would pare back the privileges China and other nations enjoy on trade.
China is categorised as a developing country at the Geneva-based institution, which affords it “special and differential treatment”. This enables China to provide subsidies in agriculture and set higher barriers to market entry than more developed economies.
The dispute reflects a fundamental divide within the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that has threatened the future of the global multilateral trading system.
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WNU Editor: When China was permitted to enter the WTO with U.S. backing in 2001, critics of the policy were condemned by U.S. President Clinton and free trade advocates that this was the best (and only) policy to pursue .... Was Letting China Into the WTO a Mistake? (Philip Levy, Foreign Affairs). Today .... it is China that is calling the shots, and I predict that they will keep their ‘developing country’ status at the WTO even though they are the world's second largest economy. Sighhh .... it took only 18 years, but for those who criticized China's entry into the WTO 18 years ago and who predicted what was going to happen, they have now been proven right.
