Protectionism worries Chinese envoy
The Doha round of talks reached a standstill. Is it possible to see a breakthrough this year for the talks?
China has been pushing forward the talks. But thanks to the global economic recovery and political reasons, some individuals and developed economies are following the wrong path and going against relevant WTO rules, including launching more trade-remedy cases worldwide.
As developing economies strengthen their capacities, we must join hands to complete the Doha round of talks, and we are determined and confident we can make it.
While the Doha round of talks stagnated, developed economies led by the US have been active in advancing bilateral trade pacts such as that with the EU and regional trade negotiations represented by the TPP. How would you comment on the trend? What's the way to balance multilateral and bilateral trade systems?
The Doha talks do not contradict bilateral trade talks and free trade agreements. We can strike a balance between them, as China did.
China signed FTAs with many nations including Chile and Peru, and is in negotiations with others like South Korea and Japan, but we highly advocate the Doha round of talks.
But our concern is that some countries, such as the US, are deviating from the multilateral system, shifting merely to the TPP and the trans-Atlantic free trade pact. This delays the Doha round of talks and hurts the multilateral trade mechanism.
Contact the writer at dingqingfen@chinadaily.com.cn
