China promised to the World Trade Organization on Wednesday (October 20) that it would further open its huge market, but the United States quickly retorted that Beijing “has no willingness to change.”
Beijing made these commitments in the WTO’s review of China’s trade practices, a closed-door exercise regularly conducted by all 164 members of the global trade organization.
In a report released by the WTO, China proposed a strategy of accelerating the cultivation of a “new development paradigm”-the domestic market and the international market complement each other, with the domestic market as the “main body” strategy.
“The new development model fully taps the potential of domestic demand, better connects domestic and foreign markets, and makes better use of both international and domestic markets and resources to achieve stronger and more sustainable development.”
Beijing believes that the plan will “fully release” the potentially huge domestic demand market among China’s 1.4 billion population.
Over the years, China has often promised to further open its markets, but its trade practices have often been criticized.
Beijing has been fighting a trade war with Washington, accusing it of being unfair.
Beijing is also facing a struggle with Australia in the WTO. Canberra is challenging China’s tariffs on barley and opposing sanctions on a range of other commodities.
Last month, Australia asked the WTO to make a ruling on China’s high tariffs on Australian wine exports.
In the report, China expressed its desire to implement a “more active import policy” and further promote the construction of pilot free trade zones and ports.
In response to the climate crisis, the document reiterated that China strives to reach its peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
The last review of China’s trade policy was in 2018. Under the leadership of President Donald Trump, the United States questioned China’s legitimacy in the WTO and accused Beijing of not fully opening its markets.
In response to the review, David Bisbee, Chargé d’affaires of the US Permanent Mission to the WTO, stated that people’s expectations that China will adopt an open and market-oriented policy have not yet been realized.
“China seems to have no willingness to change,” he said.
“On the contrary, China has used the recognition of WTO members to become the largest trader in the WTO, and at the same time doubled the use of state-led non-market trade methods, harming workers and enterprises in the United States and other countries.
“Our most fundamental concerns about China’s trading system have not yet been resolved.”
In his speech, EU Ambassador to the WTO Joao Aguiar Machado (Joao Aguiar Machado) condemned the “competitive distortions” caused by the activities of state-owned enterprises, and called on China to “fully comply with its regulations by increasing transparency and eliminating these distortions. Commitment to WTO”.
