China will do a better job in enforcing WTO obligations

The second session of WTO’s seventh trade policy review of China got underway on Friday.

With an unprecedented number of over 100 members with more than 2,000 questions, the seventh trade policy review for China has undergone an interaction scale of a historic high in the WTO history.

Against a backdrop of rising unilateralism and protectionism, the WTO is facing challenges but is moving forward with its staunch defender, China. The performance of China, which has economic ties with almost all the WTO members, in the past two years has been praised by most members.

"This is the illustration of China's role being one of the key trading partners of the vast majority of the WTO members. So that explains why this time, a record number of questions have been raised to China before the meeting. That also explains why the meeting itself, participation of all WTO members were very active I would say. This explains the increasing interest that members are having in China's trade policies and practices," said Willy Alfaro, director of the Trade Policy Reviews Division at the WTO.

While many members appreciate China's continued liberalization of its foreign investments, they encourage it to further enhance access conditions for foreign investors. Concerns are also raised on the role of the state-owned enterprises, China's support and subsidy policies and local content requirements, including those that may be part of the 2025 plan.

"We could regard these questions as positive suggestions, and this will help us do a better job in enforcing our obligations," said Wang Shouwen, China's vice minister of commerce and deputy  international trade representative.

The policy review will help members have more transparency and facilitation for their multilateral trading interactions.