WTO chief hails China's support of multilateral trading system

The 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) concluded on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). After intensive consultations, the Ministerial Conference reached the "1+10" pragmatic outcomes.

Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao led a delegation to the conference. The Chinese delegation actively promoted talks and cooperation during the meeting and participated in all consultations, according to a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

In the negotiations on investment facilitation, fisheries subsidies and other issues, the Chinese side actively coordinated and cooperated with other members and won praise from parties attending the meeting, the host UAE and WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the statement added.

China has participated constructively in the entire agenda, showing its support for the multilateral trading system, Iweala said.

Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Trade and Chair of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference, said the Chinese delegation had performed positively in the various agendas of the conference and that the active participation of the Chinese side had contributed to the conference's success.

At the closing ceremony, WTO members adopted the Abu Dhabi Ministerial Declaration, committing to strengthening the multilateral trading system and continuing to promote WTO reform. The declaration also emphasized the centrality of the development dimension in the work of the WTO while endorsing the role of the multilateral trading system in promoting the realization of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The outcomes of the Ministerial Conference also include a two-year extension of the temporary tariff exemption on e-commerce data transmissions to the next Ministerial Conference.

(Cover: Delegates attend the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, February 26, 2024. /CFP)