Zhongxin Finance, January 22. According to the website of the Ministry of Commerce on the 22nd, Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy Representative of International Trade Negotiations, attended the small ministerial meeting of the WTO and said that China supports the WTO to make an early decision on the exemption of intellectual property rights for the new crown pneumonia vaccine. And will continue to make a positive contribution to improving vaccine access and affordability.

  On the evening of January 21, Beijing time, the 2022 WTO mini-ministerial meeting hosted by Switzerland was held by video. The ministers or ministerial representatives of 28 members including China, the United States, the European Union and India, the WTO Director-General Iweala, the Prime Minister The chairman of the meeting, Castillo, attended the meeting, and all parties exchanged views on topics such as epidemic response, fishery subsidies, agricultural negotiations, and WTO reform.

Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Commerce of China and Deputy Representative of International Trade Negotiations, attended and delivered a speech on behalf of the Chinese side.

Li Chenggang, Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of China to the WTO, participated by video.

  Wang Shouwen said that China supports the early decision of the WTO on the exemption of intellectual property rights for new coronary pneumonia vaccines, and called on members to reach a meaningful ministerial declaration based on the "Walker Text" as soon as possible.

China will continue to make positive contributions to improving vaccine accessibility and affordability.

Members should take a pragmatic stance and end the fisheries subsidy negotiations as soon as possible to ensure a balanced and fair outcome of the negotiations.

Agricultural negotiations should cut the most trade-distorting aggregate support and correct the "rules deficit" in agricultural trade.

  Wang Shouwen said that China actively participates in the reform of the WTO, and the top priority for the reform is to start the selection process for members of the Appellate Body as soon as possible.

The reform should address the issue of protectionist and unilateral measures, formulate rules on new issues such as investment facilitation and e-commerce, and make the WTO rule system keep pace with the times.

To better advance related work, China supports the early establishment of a WTO reform working group that is open to all members and has appropriate functions.

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