China can play leading role in WTO process
Since the Doha Development Round could not be completed by the end of 2011, the WTO is finding it difficult to propel the talks forward.
The problem lies in the WTO's objectives. The new topics of WTO talks increasingly involve the domestic policies of its participants. But this is not the time to discuss or change domestic policies. For the same reason some bilateral free trade area agreements have made little progress in the talks on free trade over the past few years. So China should start playing a leading role in the WTO process, for which it needs to make a lot of preparations on the economic and policy fronts. That China will continue to support globalization is beyond doubt. The problem is that the international community lacks consensus on what kind of new policies and theories to adopt. WTO members need to solve this problem in the coming years before propelling globalization forward.
Negotiations key to better future
Since joining the WTO in 2001, China has not only participated in but also has done everything it can to adapt to the world order. Over the past 15 years, China's economy and trade volume have increased dramatically to the astonishment of both China and its global partners.
Beijing has been playing an increasingly important role in international relations; it is promoting the Belt and Road Initiative and played the leading role in establishing the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank, which are actually rule-making practices. In fact, it has been helping draft new rules for global governance.
But that does not mean Beijing is out to break the existing rules. It only hopes to add new, and much-needed elements to the current global governance mechanism, which requires it to consider some problems from a global perspective and better balance the interests of various parties.
Negotiation is one of the processes to achieve the right balance among different interests, so China must pay greater attention to this problem while making more efforts to draft global rules.
The benefits of free trade rules
That other WTO members started treating it as equal is one of the greatest benefits China got by joining the WTO. In other words, WTO rules regulate not only China's policies toward the other members, but also the latter's policies toward China. In many cases, these rules have helped China avoid becoming the victim of the domestic policies and politics of some Western countries.
In 2005, U.S. senato Chuck Schumer accused China of "currency manipulation" and moved a bill to levy 27.5 percent tariff on all Chinese products exported to the U.S.. Had that bill been passed, it would have spelled disaster for Sino-U.S. trade because products labeled "Made in China" would cost 27.5 percent more in the U.S.. The move sparked fierce discussions in the U.S., and Schumer was eventually forced to withdraw the bill, because it was against the multilateral rules of the WTO.
It was a typical case of the WTO rules helping China avoid antagonistic measures of Western countries. Western countries could not pass such bills targeted at China, because they were not in accordance with the WTO's rules. Of course, China too has to follow the rules, so as to maintain a good trade environment for all.
