GENEVA: China announced on Tuesday (Sep 23) it will no longer seek the benefits it gains from its developing country status at the World Trade Organization (WTO), state news agency Xinhua and the director-general of the WTO stated.
Xinhua reported that Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced his country will no longer seek access to Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) in current and new WTO agreements during a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In making the announcement, Li noted that the world’s second-biggest economy was behaving as “a responsible major developing country”, Xinhua reported.
“This is a culmination of many years of hard work and I want to applaud China’s leadership on this issue,” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a statement posted on X.
WTO agreements contain provisions allowing developing countries special rights and for other members to treat them more favourably.
Such treatment includes longer timeframes for implementing commitments and measures to boost trading opportunities for these countries.
Some major economies, including China and Saudi Arabia, self-identify as developing countries, granting them access to SDT benefits such as setting higher tariffs and using subsidies.
Previously, the United States had argued there could be no meaningful WTO reform until China and other major economies relinquish the SDT granted to developing countries, which Washington says gives them an unfair advantage.
China’s announcement comes after months of trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies over sweeping tariffs imposed by the US and retaliatory measures by China.
China previously told Reuters its developing country status was non-negotiable, but that it was open to discussing SDT, subsidies and industrial policy as part of broader discussions on WTO reform, ahead of a 2026 ministerial meeting in Cameroon.
