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18:30, 28-Jun-2018
China calls for filling up vacancies at WTO Appellate Body
Updated
18:22, 01-Jul-2018
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The crisis of filling up vacancies at the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been one of the most serious difficulties faced by the organization, said Chinese vice minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen on Thursday.
Wang made the remarks during a press conference about a White Paper titled "China and the World Trade Organization". The document was released by the State Council Information Office Thursday afternoon.
The Appellate Body functions as the WTO's de facto court of appeals and is composed of seven members. However, only four of the seven members are in office since one of the WTO members has refused to initiate the process to fill vacancies.
Talking about the difficulties and risks of the WTO, Wang has also mentioned the abuse and misuse of the national security-exemption.
China hopes all WTO members will firmly support the multilateral trading system and work together to solve the problems of the system, Wang told the reporters.
He has also called on the members to work together to maintain the validity and authority of the organization, and strengthen its policy review and negotiation functions, as well as the dispute settlement mechanism.