加载中…WangHuiyao：WhyChinashouldleadthemissiontosavetheailingWTO
(2019-12-06 17:35:28)
Chinese Ambassador to the WTO Zhang
Xiangchen (left) chats with his US counterpart Dennis Shea before a
WTO meeting in Geneva in July last year. Photo:
Reuters
The fate of the World Trade Organisation hangs in the balance.
On December 10, just a single judge will be left on its Appellate
Body as the terms of two remaining judges expire.
With the United States blocking new appointments, the world's
top trade court will be left short of the quorum required to hear
appeals, effectively paralysing the WTO dispute settlement
mechanism and undermining its defences against protectionism.
This demise comes when the global trading system is already
fractious and vulnerable. A plan is needed to breathe life back
into the WTO which, despite its faults, has underpinned growth for
the past quarter of a century and remains the best vehicle for
global trade liberalisation.
China, in particular, has benefited greatly since joining the
WTO in 2001; now, the country should play a leading role in helping
to reform and revive the organisation.
President Donald Trump at an Atlanta
rally on November 8. Last year, he said he would pull the US out of
the WTO if it does not “shape up” and treat America better, adding
that the agreement which established the organisation “was the
single worst trade deal ever made”. Photo: AP
While the Appellate Body crisis is the most urgent malady
afflicting the WTO, it is by no means the only one. For many years,
the organisation has failed to keep up with important shifts in the
global economy.
Its norms and rules are increasingly outdated for a world
linked by complex value chains and growing digital and services
trade.
While most members agree the WTO needs to be reformed,
progress has been hindered by a lack of consensus and leadership.
The United States, once a linchpin of the multilateral system, has
become one of its biggest critics.
At this critical juncture, as the world's largest trading
nation and a leading advocate of multilateralism, China has an
important role to play.
By working with other countries, it can take key steps to
galvanise action and get the WTO back on the road to
recovery.
At a critical moment for global trade, China can help save the
WTO
First, China should work with a "coalition of the willing" and
enact an emergency response plan to resuscitate the dispute
settlement mechanism.
In particular, China can cooperate more closely with allied
interests such as the European Union, Australia, Canada and Japan
to explore solutions.
One possibility is to form an alternative mechanism via a
plurilateral agreement: one that involves a group of countries
rather than all members. This would restore the WTO's ability to
enforce rules while upholding its authority.
To facilitate this cooperation, China should strengthen
communication with parties working to modernise the WTO. China has
set up a joint working group with the EU for this purpose and could
also establish a communication channel with the Canada-led Ottawa
Group.
Blocking China's blockchain push will leave the world worse
off
The second principle is to focus on issues that can provide an
"early harvest" to provide some momentum for the reform process.
WTO talks have all but ground to a halt since the Doha Round died a
quiet death in 2015. At present, fishery subsidies are the only
item left on the agenda.
Rather than trying to tackle long-standing intractable
problems from the current deadlocked state, issues should be
prioritised where there is common ground to make breakthroughs and
get the ball rolling.
One promising area is e-commerce, which plays an ever-growing
role in global trade. China is one of 75 WTO members that launched
talks on drawing up global e-commerce rules earlier this year.
While some sticking points remain on data security and privacy,
there is strong potential to make headway.
A screen displays the transaction volume
of the 24-hour Alibaba Singles’ Day global shopping festival at the
Chinese company's headquarters in Hangzhou, on November 12.
Alibaba, the owner of the South China Morning Post, is one of
several powerful online companies contributing to an estimated
US$5.5 trillion online market in China this year. Photo:
Reuters
Drawing on its own experience and position as a major
e-commerce player, China should play an active role in
consultations with other members to make progress on rule-making
for the digital economy.
Green issues could provide another potential win for WTO
reform. Building on the consensus reached at the G20 earlier this
year to tackle marine plastic pollution, China should spur
multilateral action to meet these goals through the WTO. Shared
environmental challenges such as plastic pollution can provide a
useful impetus for reform.
The third area to address is how WTO members are categorised.
The simplistic labelling of countries as "developed" or
"developing" fails to capture the diversity within these
categories.
Members self-designated as "developing" range from some of the
world's poorest countries to industrialised economies such as
Singapore and South Korea.
Asia-Pacific needs the WTO to stay relevant in an uncertain
world
While often not applied in practice, the "special and
differential treatment" granted to developing countries has become
a bone of contention in reform negotiations.
As a bridge between the developed and developing world, China
could help to refine ways of classifying countries that reduce
friction with industrialised members but protect reasonable
allowances for developing countries.
Finding the right remedies and nursing the WTO back to
strength will not easy. But while its condition is critical, it is
by no means terminal.
Faced with the alternative of seeing our global trading system
splinter under the forces of unilateralism and protectionism, every
country should be eager to explore new ways to revive the WTO. As
the world's largest trading nation and a strong advocate of
multilateralism, China has a significant role to play.
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