China refutes US report denying its contributions to global trade

BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday strongly opposed a U.S. report that denies China's contribution to the multilateral trading system and global economy after it acceded to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over two decades ago.

The Ministry of Commerce said in a statement that China as the largest developing WTO member has always firmly supported the multilateral trading system, genuinely practiced multilateralism, and earnestly fulfilled its WTO commitments.

The country has continuously improved its market economy institutions and legal systems based on its national conditions, expanded high-level institutional opening-up, fully and deeply participated in the reform of the WTO, and actively helped other developing members, in particular the least developed countries, integrate into the multilateral trading system, the ministry said.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative recently released its 2023 Report to Congress on China's WTO Compliance.

The U.S. side disregarded China's achievements in fulfilling its WTO commitments, distorted its progress in building a market economy and advancing reform and opening up, and made groundless and arbitrary accusations on its economic and trade policies, the ministry said.

The ministry stressed that the U.S. side smeared China's legitimate trade measures as economic coercion, labeled China's response to the U.S. blockade and repression as decoupling, and falsely accused China of causing overcapacity, which fully reflects the unilateralism and bullying acts of the United States.

Exactly opposite to the U.S. statements, China's positive and constructive role in promoting the multilateral trading system has been acknowledged and appreciated globally, the ministry said.

China was the first major developing country to accept the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, played a key role in successfully concluding negotiations on the Investment Facilitation for Development, and promoted the conclusion of negotiations on a number of global digital trade rules, the ministry said.

With "America first" as its starting point, the United States violated WTO rules, carried out unilateral trade bullying, and formulated discriminatory industrial policies, which has disrupted the global industrial and supply chains, seriously affected the international trade order, and undermined the common interests of WTO members, the ministry said.

The ministry called on the U.S. side to correct its wrong deeds in a timely manner, earnestly abide by WTO rules and its commitments, work with China and other members to jointly uphold the rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, and earnestly play its due role in addressing global issues and challenges.