MNI Policy: China Urges Cooperation on WTO Reform at G20

By Iris Ouyang

     BEIJING (MNI) - China on Friday said any effort to reform the World Trade

Organization (WTO) should be through cooperation rather than unilateral

pressure. 

     Here are major points from the press briefing by the Ministry of Commerce:

     -Unilateral action of some countries undermine the WTO's authority.

Reforming the WTO can't advance without all countries onboard, and the U.S.

should make positive contributions.

     -China hopes failure to reach an agreement on WTO reform won't happen at

the G20 Summit in Argentina at the end of this month as what happened at the

APEC meeting earlier this month.

     -MOFCOM officials repeated that future WTO reform should ensure members

respect the differences of other countries' development model. While the Donald

Trump administration has pressed China to adjust its economic and industrial

policies, the officials stuck by China's unwillingness to alter such policies.

     -MOFCOM called for "equal and mutually respectful" conversations and

against building separate "friend circles" within the WTO.

     -Without meaning the U.S. by name, the ministry said some countries have

overly subsidized its agriculture, leading to unfair competitive advantage, so

future reform should address the problem.

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: iris.ouyang@marketnews.com

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 10 8532 5998; email: william.bi@mni-news.com

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