On October 30, 2021 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in Rome.
Wang Yi congratulated Iweala on becoming the first African Director-General of the WTO, saying that this marks the strengthening of the strength of developing countries on the international stage, and China will fully support the Director-General in performing her duties.
Wang Yi said that President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the First Session of the 16th Group of 20 (G20) Leaders' Summit today, emphasizing that the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core should be maintained and the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference should be promoted to achieve positive results. This fully demonstrates that China attaches great importance to the role of the WTO. This year marks the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the WTO. As a staunch defender of the multilateral trading system, China stands ready to work with other parties to uphold the authority and effectiveness of the WTO, advance the liberalization and facilitation of global trade and investment, and consolidate the foundation of global trade.
Iweala said, I listened to the important speech of President Xi Jinping on the scene and was greatly encouraged. She sincerely congratulates China on the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the WTO. Noting China's accession to the WTO is of great significance, the WTO attaches great importance to China's important influence and leading role, and is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with China, and in particular, continue to receive China's support in hosting the 12th Ministerial Conference.
When talking about "special and differential treatment", Wang Yi said China is the largest developing country in the world, because our own unbalanced and inadequate development is still a prominent problem and the development task is still arduous. Politically, China will always be a member of the group of developing countries and will firmly defend the common interests of developing countries. At the same time, China has never shied away from its due international responsibilities. China has undertaken obligations far beyond its WTO accession commitments, both in terms of reducing overall tariff levels and in actual cases of "special and differential treatment". In the past, at present or in the future, China has never and will never compete with other developing countries for resources. We will, on the basis of our overall positioning as a developing country, continue to assume responsibilities and obligations commensurate with our level of development and make greater contributions to common development.
