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China to play more prominent role in world trade talks

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-02 14:35

WASHINGTON: As the rise of developing countries is transforming world trade system, China will play a more prominent role in world trade negotiations, a trade expert said.

"China, the largest exporter in the world, has a vital interest in the World Trade Organization (WTO)," Uri Dadush, director of the International Economics Program at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank, told Xinhua in an interview on Wednesday.

He said he hopes that China will play "a leadership role" in pushing the conclusion of the Doha Round and in reforming the WTO to be more effective.

Dadush, a former director for international trade at the World Bank, stressed the rise of developing countries, noting China's entry into the WTO is a particular success and that China used the entry to anchor far-reaching domestic reforms.

The expert said that the WTO remains a key institution of globalization and the major trade arbitrator. However, he said, it needs to reform to adapt to the changing world trade landscape, in which developing economies are having more voices.

According to the WTO statistics, since its inception in 1995, the WTO has been the guardian of world trade, as well as an essential plank of globalization. To date, about 370 disputes have been filed in its dispute settlement system, with 80 decided by the appellate court and the rest settled out of court; compliance has been good overall.

Dadush said that although the WTO continues to play a central role in the international trade regime, there is risk that the WTO is becoming sidelined and irrelevant in the world economic system.

In his view, the organization has failed to fulfill its promise as a source of new rules and further liberalization.

Many other trade experts also pointed out that unilateral, bilateral, and regional process are increasingly bypassing the WTO in trade reform.

"My hope is that WTO will initiate reforms to become more central to the process of trade reform that is happening around the world," said Dadush.

The expert said that the WTO must adopt a more flexible approach to trade negotiations, move beyond the single undertaking or universal consensus requirements, and find ways to leverage opportunities where liberalization is already taking place.

In this process, he believes that China will "play the leadership role".