Drafter of global governance rules
Zhou Hanmin, vice-chairman of the CPPCC Shanghai Committee
China has always proudly shouldered its responsibilities as a member of the World Trade Organization and it is a leading advocate of reform to ensure the organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations is in step with the times. There is ample reason to be confident that China will continue making more contributions to WTO reform and be a firm defender and a drafter of new global rules.
For that purpose, I have three suggestions:
First, China should play a significant role in global economic governance. For the past 18 years since it became a member of the WTO, China has been actively participating in negotiations in all fields, and in the future it will change its role from a follower of rules to a drafter of rules, so as to better protect its own interests and the interests of developing economies as a whole. Chinese values should be embodied in the making of international rules.
Second, China is participating in improving the problem-solving mechanisms. Different economies have different interests, and how to balance them is a key principle of the WTO rules. More conflicts would be solved more easily, even avoided at the very start, if the problem-solving mechanisms were improved. The most fundamental rule is that cooperation leads to common prosperity while conflicts lead to lose-lose results.
Third, China should promote the rules of the WTO being expanded. Currently, the negotiations of the WTO have already expanded from the tariff to nontariff sectors, and from the trade in goods to the trade in services. Certain important rules must constantly be updated and expanded to new fields as they develop. These are where China can play a significant role.
To sum up, China must render new efforts to propel reform of the WTO forward and help improve the rules so that they fit the changing times.
