China Takes a Strong Stance in
the WTO
By Emma Leeds Armstrong in
Baltimore (People’s Daily)
Since 1995, the World Trade
Organization (WTO) has regulated trade between nations, focusing most often on
the liberalization of world trade, the negotiation of trade agreements, and the
settlement of trade disputes. WTO concentrates specifically on aiding
developing nations in issues of trade.
The debate of WTO’s committee
first topic, “special and differential treatment of developing nations”,
applies significantly to recent Chinese actions. In December of 2013, China,
under the leadership of Trade Minister Hucheng Gao, contributed US$400,000 to
facilitate WTO accession of least-developed countries (LDC). Whether China will
continue this involvement will be apparent during the debates in the next three
days.
Special and differential
treatment (SDT) refers to provisions that allow LDC special rights favorable
treatment by developed nations. The ultimate goal of SDT is to incorporate the
economies of LDC into international trade and to kindle their economic
development.
The WTO committee is currently debating how to define
a “developing” nation. The delegate representing China, Jordan Yaffe,
emphasized the need of the committee to focus on aiding LDC rather than
defining them. On behalf of China, he is arguing “tiers [on the scale of
development] need to be simple so that aiding nations will be followed and
rulings on SDT will be complied with.” Yaffe is proposing lenient deadlines and
regulations during trade to aid LDC. He intends to form a panel to monitor the
actions of developed nations in dealings with LDC so as to insure the former
will not take advantage of the latter.
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