Original title: China's proposals on development in the WTO have aroused multi resonance

Xinhua News Agency, Geneva, May 23 (Reporter Chen Binjie) The World Trade Organization General Council meeting was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 22 to 23. At the meeting, China put forward a proposal calling on members to reflect on and improve the working methods of the WTO on development issues, give new meaning and impetus to long-term outstanding issues, and provide practical and feasible solutions to current challenges such as climate change, food security and the digital divide. This is a concrete practice of China's implementation of the global development initiative in the WTO, and the proposal has aroused resonance among all parties.

China proposes to inject new impetus into the development agenda with new ideas. The proposal encourages members to take a "new perspective of the times" and re-examine the long outstanding negotiation topics from the perspective of new challenges of the times; Propose that all parties "go beyond reiterating their positions" and pay attention to the real problems faced by developing members; Encourage the adoption of "progressive approach", focusing on specific problems to seek practical solutions and achieve results in the short term; Give play to the advantages of the WTO's multilateral platform to "strengthen capacity building" and empower developing members to participate in negotiations through cooperation with other relevant international organizations; Adhere to the basic principle of "special and differential treatment" and actively explore independent and pragmatic solutions. On the next step, Li Chenggang, the Permanent Representative of China to the WTO, said that China aims to promote reflection and reform working methods through the proposal, so as to achieve positive results in the discussion of WTO development issues.

The Chinese proposal resonated with all parties, and more than 30 members spoke in support. The Director General of the WTO, Iveira, expressed his great appreciation for the constructive views of the Chinese proposal, including that development is a horizontal issue and should be promoted to keep pace with the times; While adhering to the principle of "special and differential treatment" for developing members, flexible and pragmatic methods can also be explored. Chad, coordinator of the African Group, and Djibouti, coordinator of the Least Developed Countries Group, said that the Chinese proposal emphasized that solving development problems is the common responsibility of members, which is conducive to helping members think about reform and innovate working methods on development issues, promoting balanced, coordinated and inclusive global development, and striving for the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14) Or achieve development results before. The EU, Singapore, Switzerland and other WTO members spoke in support of China's proposal.

WTO members attach great importance to development issues. The 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) reached the Abu Dhabi Ministerial Declaration, reaffirming the centrality of development in WTO work. MC13 also reached some results on the "special and differential treatment" proposal of the Group of 90 and the support measures for the smooth transition of the least developed countries after graduation, reached a work plan for small economies, and approved the accession of the two least developed countries, Comoros and Timor Leste, to the WTO. In addition, WTO members have put forward negotiation demands in areas such as policy space for industrial development, food security, and climate change.