Reinvigorating morale, the future can be expected to take stock of the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference

　　Reinvigorating morale can be expected in the future - taking stock of the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference

　　Xinhua News Agency, Geneva, June 17

　　Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Binjie and Chen Junxia

　　The 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization ended in Geneva, Switzerland in the early morning of the 17th local time.

　　After more than five days of intensive consultations and difficult negotiations, the conference focused on topics of global concern, such as COVID-19 response, intellectual property exemptions related to epidemic prevention, food security, humanitarian food procurement, fishery subsidies, temporary tariff exemptions for electronic transmission, and WTO reform. make achievement.

　　Observers believe that at a time when the world is facing multiple crises and challenges such as the new crown epidemic, food crisis, and regional conflicts, this conference has achieved a number of multilateral achievements, revitalized morale, and illuminated the reform of the WTO and the development of the multilateral trading system. the way forward.

Difficult negotiations finally achieved a breakthrough

　　The WTO Ministerial Conference is the highest decision-making authority of the WTO and is generally held every two years.

The ministerial meeting, co-hosted by the WTO and Kazakhstan, is the first ministerial meeting held by the WTO in four and a half years.

Observers believe that the WTO under Director-General Iweala has shown a strong will to push members to achieve results on key issues.

　　The conference was originally scheduled to close on the 15th. In order to promote members to reach consensus on topics such as new crown vaccine intellectual property exemption, epidemic response, fishery subsidies, agriculture, food security and WTO reform, the organizer deliberately extended the period.

　　The closer the meeting draws to a close, the more intense the negotiation becomes. Heads of delegation meetings and small-scale informal consultations often last until late the night before and continue in the early morning of the next day.

　　The WTO originally planned to announce the results of the conference on the afternoon of the 16th, but the closing ceremony was postponed many times until 5 a.m. on the 17th.

Many of the details of the deal were not finalized until the last minute, the sources said.

　　At the closing ceremony, Iweala announced the results of the conference, which were reached in the form of ministerial statements, ministerial decisions, etc.

She said the outcome of the conference was "pleasant" and "exciting".

Through the joint efforts of all WTO members, the conference has made breakthroughs on a number of key issues, demonstrating that the multilateral trading system can play a key role in addressing global challenges.

The results are promising and long-term

　　Lu Xiankun, founder and president of the Geneva-based think tank "Group of Friends of Multilateralism", believes that the status and role of the WTO have been impacted by the financial crisis, the new crown epidemic, regional conflicts, and food crises. Such an outcome of the Ministerial Conference is truly commendable.

　　Lu Xiankun said that the multilateral achievements of the conference in epidemic response, food security, fishery subsidies, temporary tariff exemption for electronic transmission, etc. basically involve the major challenges facing the current WTO.

　　He particularly emphasized that fisheries subsidies, as the subject of the Doha round of negotiations, finally reached an agreement after 21 years, fulfilling the requirements of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and becoming the first sustainable development achievement of the WTO.

　　He believes that the results achieved in epidemic response and food security fully prove that the WTO can play an active role in addressing global challenges.

　　During the meeting, many members also made new progress on some plurilateral initiatives.

For example, Georgia, Timor-Leste and Saudi Arabia were added to the domestic regulation of services, with Timor-Leste joining as a least developed country.

This fully demonstrates the WTO's ability to respond flexibly under the new situation.

　　However, there are also regrets at this session. For example, the WTO members failed to reach an agreement on the agricultural subsidy negotiations, and some of the above-mentioned agreements were compromised to a certain extent. The reform of the WTO still lacks a clear roadmap.

Observers believe that this session has brightened the way forward for the WTO, but the road ahead will be long.

Reinvigorating morale for a brighter future

　　The above multilateral outcomes show the world that WTO members can overcome differences and come together to jointly tackle global challenges.

Iweala said the package deal reached at the meeting "will change the lives of people around the world".

"We have reason to believe that strategic cooperation can coexist with increasingly fierce strategic competition," she said.

　　During the meeting, China showed an open attitude, adhered to principles and made active contributions, which played a very important role in promoting the negotiation and was praised by all parties.

　　When attending the meeting, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said that the multilateral trading system with the WTO as the core is the cornerstone of international trade, and China is willing to work with all parties to promote the WTO to play a greater role in the recovery of the world economy.

　　On important issues such as environmental protection, China's performance is impressive.

Li Chenggang, China's permanent representative to the WTO, said at a press conference on environmental protection initiatives that China will work closely with other members within the framework of the WTO to promote work related to the prevention and control of plastic pollution.

China is one of the initiators and one of six co-coordinators of the WTO's Informal Dialogue on Plastic Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade, which has attracted 72 WTO members to sign up.

　　Observers believe that the results of this ministerial meeting have effectively responded to the doubts about the WTO and the multilateral trading system at a critical moment, and revitalized morale and confidence.

Although the reform of the WTO still has a long way to go, as long as all members enhance political mutual trust and strengthen multilateral cooperation, the future can be expected to revive the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core.