China urges US to uphold authority of multilateral trading regimes

BEIJING - China urges the United States to earnestly observe the rules and obligations of the World Trade Organization, and uphold the authority and effectiveness of multilateral trading regimes, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Thursday.

This followed a recent statement from Executive Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis, who said that against the backdrop of enormous global challenges, it is problematic for the US to go down the route of discriminatory subsidies or tax credits, amid negotiations between the US and Europe on the US Inflation Reduction Act.

Wang said by "building walls and barriers" and pushing for a "decoupling and the severing of supply chains," the US has in recent years severely disrupted global industrial and supply chains and aggravated the fragmentation risk of the global economy. The US has become an increasingly major factor threatening the development and stability of the world economy.

Citing a recent report from the International Monetary Fund, Wang said that even limited fragmentation of the world economy could shave 0.2 percent off of global GDP while a severe fragmentation of the global economy could reduce global economic output by up to 7 percent.

Competition should be fair and rational, Wang said. The US practices of seeking unilateralism and protectionism are not justified, nor are its attempts to suppress and deprive the development rights of other countries, he added, noting that such practices violate market rules and economic laws and will reach a dead end.