WTO urged to safeguard trade
Less-developed countries urged to join organization
China on Saturday encouraged the members of the WTO to safeguard multilateral trade and jointly build an open global economy.
Speaking to a round table on China’s program for less-developed countries known as the “China Program” during a WTO summit in Buenos Aires, Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said that China will promote the creation of a new configuration of integral openingup, firmly support the multilateral trade regime and encourage the construction of an open global economy.
He added that the elimination of poverty is a joint mission for humanity and that WTO members have to make joint efforts to achieve the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
This would see priority being given to less-developed countries and those living in extreme poverty.
The Chinese minister pointed to the fact that the multilateral trade system is an important safeguard for common prosperity.
He said it offered a guarantee for lessdeveloped countries that, once they boost their development capacity, they can be integrated into global value chains and achieve sustainable development.
Speaking about the “China Program,” Zhong indicated that China wants less-developed countries to join the WTO and “asks for multi-directional help from all parties.”
WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo said China offered a dialogue platform to discuss policies and exchange experiences to help poorer countries join the WTO.
He added that six less-developed countries had joined the WTO in the last five years, showing the importance of the Chinese contribution to multilateral trade.
China and the WTO signed the “China Program” in July 2011.
China’s trade continues to grow, helping to drive global demand. In the first 11 months of the year, China’s trade volume rose 15.6 percent from the previous year to 25.14 trillion yuan ($3.8 trillion), data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Friday.
In the first 10 months of the year, China attracted more than $9 billion in foreign direct investment, up 5 percent year-on-year, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce on November 14.
In a speech at the 2017 Fortune Global Forum held in Guangzhou, capital of South China’s Guangdong Province last week, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said that China will continue to ease market access for foreign investors, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.