Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The Premier of China Li Qiang, when attending a United Nations General Assembly related meeting on 23 September 2025, announced that China, as a responsible major developing country, will not seek new special and differential treatment (SDT) in the current and future negotiations of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
According to a press release by the country’s Foreign Ministry, the position statement by China takes into account the large picture domestically and internationally.
“This is also a China’s major move to firmly safeguard the multilateral trading system and actively implement the global development initiative and the global governance initiative, which will boost global trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and inject positivity into the reform process of the global economic governance system,” the statement read.
In 2001, China acceded to the WTO as a developing member and is entitled to the institutional right to SDT. Under the WTO framework, developing members’ SDT mainly includes lower liberalization commitments and obligations, longer grace period, and access to capacity building and technical assistance for trade, among others.
Since its accession to the WTO, while benefiting from the SDT, China has actively taken part in multilateral trade negotiations and addressed SDT-related issues independently and pragmatically in negotiations on specific issues, taking into account its own development level and capacity, making significant contributions to the successful conclusion of multiple WTO negotiations and to the promotion of greater liberalization and facilitation in global trade.
At present, there are growing calls for upholding the multilateral trading system and rising expectations for the WTO to play a more active role in the international community.
“Against this backdrop, China’s announcement of not seeking new SDT in the current and future WTO negotiations further underlines China’s commitment to the multilateral trading system with actions and its sense of responsibility as a major country,” the statement read.
“It needs to be emphasized that China remains the largest developing country in the world. China’s status and identity as a developing country remain unchanged. China has always been a member of the Global South and will always stand with developing countries.
“Looking into the future, aiming at the goal of Chinese modernization, China will unswervingly deepen reform, expand high-standard opening-up, and promote high-quality development. As always, China will continue to uphold the multilateral trading system, and fully and deeply engage in WTO reform and the adjustment of international economic and trade rules.
“China will firmly stand with other developing members, put development at the center of WTO reform, and push the WTO to secure more development-oriented outcomes for a more fair and equitable global economic governance system.”
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