China announces that it gives up part of its WTO privileges. This gesture, described as “Major” By the Director General of the Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, rebats world trade cards. Formulated by Li Qiang in person, this decision marks a strategic turn for the Beijing authorities, long accused of unduly benefited from multilateral rules.
In short
- China announces its intention to give up certain trade privileges granted by the WTO to developing countries.
- This decision, welcomed as “major” by the director general of the WTO, marks a strategic turning point in the International Posture of Beijing.
- So far, China has benefited from key advantages such as prolonged deadlines, industrial subsidies and easy access to developed markets.
- China abandons these privileges while maintaining its status as developing countries, which it considers essential for its economic balance.
Beijing abandons a major lever for commercial competitiveness
During a speech delivered this Tuesday, September 23 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Li Qiang, Chinese Prime Minister, officially announced that China was ready to renounce the “Special and differentiated treatment” (TSD) planned for developing countries within the framework of the World Trade Organization, while the country still deploys its monetary offensive against the domination of the dollar.
This declaration was welcomed as a “Major event” By Ngozi Okonjo-iweala, OMC Managing Director, who said on X: “This is the culmination of many years of hard work, and I want to congratulate Chinese leaders for their action in this area! »».
Such a decision has been a break with the hard line defended by Beijing since its WTO membership in 2001.
This change of attitude implies for China the abandonment of several key mechanisms which supported it in its accelerated industrialization strategy. As a country benefiting from the TSD, China has so far had of several structural advantages In the global economic competition, as listed by Thomas Deconstanza, researcher at the Think Tank Skema Publika:
- Extended deadlines to apply certain WTO rules, allowing it to delay the alignment of its economic policies;
- The possibility of massively subsidizing its strategic industries, especially in the high technology sectors such as electric vehicles;
- Easy access to developed markets, such as the European Union or the United States, without being subject to certain counterparts imposed on more advanced economies.
These measures, now in the process of abandonment, constituted a base of Chinese trade policy. Their suppression indicates a major strategic inflection, in a context where Beijing seeks to redefine its role in international institutions without losing the levers of its economic influence.
A diplomatic turnaround of China under international pressure
If this decision may seem voluntary, it comes in a context of strong diplomatic tensions and increasing accusations brought against China for several years.
The rocking point dates back to the first mandate of Donald Trump, who denounced in 2017 a use “Abusive” Multilateral commercial rules by Beijing, recalling that China has been the second world economy in global GDP since 2010.
This criticism has since been taken up, and intensified, by several powers, in particular the European Union, South Korea, Japan and Australia, which consider that it is unjustified for an actor in this scale of continuing to benefit from the preferential treatments reserved for low -income countries.
In response, Beijing gradually softened its position. As early as July 2024, China, a member of the BRICS Alliance, suggested that it could give up the TSD during the next negotiations on the organization of the organization.
Nevertheless, China will not give up its status as developing countries, deemed “Non -negotiable”. This maintenance is justified, according to its authorities, by internal socio-economic inequalities, in particular a GDP per capita still low and delayed rural areas. The abandonment of the TSD is therefore presented as a strategic compromise, an opening gesture without going so far as to compromise its overall positioning.
Will this announcement suffice to defuse increasing trade tensions, especially with the United States, or if it simply opens the way to a temporary rebalancing of power relations within the WTO? For observers, by loosening the vice of international criticism, China seeks to resume the initiative in future negotiations. However, the concrete consequences of this withdrawal, on its subsidized industries, world value chains, or on future regulations, remain to be measured.
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