Ke, Jing

Abstract: Since the founding of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the high heterogeneity among its members and the difficulty of coordinating those members’ interests, coupled with the guiding principle of consensus decision-making, have repeatedly led WTO negotiations into deadlocks. Recently, the US, increasingly dissatisfied with the distribution of interests in the current international economic system, has been forcing its major trading partners to make concessions more frequently, using unilateral trade policies intended to reshape the global trade order. Thus, WTO reform is becoming even more complicated due to increased competition among great powers. Expanding regionalism is also likely to turn into a tool for geopolitical competition, posing a greater threat to the institutional basis of the multilateral trading system. China should support the multilateral trading system and guide reforms toward justice, inclusiveness, and openness. Furthermore, as it accelerates the pace of its own reform and opening up, China should narrow its divergence of rules with western countries within reasonable scope, ensure that due attention is given to the appeals of developing countries, and defend the goals and principles of the WTO. Full text available here.