On September 23rd, at the United Nations headquarters in new york, representatives from 193 countries around the world gathered together. At the venue, the Chinese representative suddenly threw out a heavy statement, "China will no longer seek new special and differential treatment within the WTO framework."
Some think it's a compromise concession, but it's not a concession, but a proactive bid, accurately retaliating against the Trump era's old-fashioned "low-cost" bullet on China.
A dispute between international rules and national responsibilities ends in a global perspective.
Evolution of Special Treatment
To understand China, we must first say from the "special and differential treatment", which is not a country's "benefit", but a buffering mechanism set by the WTO specifically for developing countries.
Including longer transitional periods, some exemptions from rules, and the facilitation of technology transfer, the aim is to give countries with weak economic bases a chance to catch up.
When China entered the WTO in 2001, its GDP per capita was less than $1,000, and the industrial chain was far from being a system, and it deserved its status as a developing country.
By 2024, China's per capita GDP has exceeded $1,20,000, the position of the world's second-largest economy is also stable, continuing to enjoy the "benefits" of developing countries, and in the eyes of some Western countries, especially the United States, it has become a "trickle".
This is also one of the core arguments of the Trump era trade war with China, he bite that China is both a manufacturing power and an exporting major, but is still in the WTO to take the "subsidies" of developing countries.
In addition, the United States has frequently pushed to revise the recognition criteria of developing countries within the WTO, accusing China of "taking cheap".
The logic behind it is simple, as long as China still hits the flag of "developing countries", the United States can continue to attack China "play double goals".
But the reality is not as simple as Trump described, with data from the Ministry of Commerce showing that China has not only fully fulfilled its WTO commitments over the years, but many of its obligations have even been fulfilled in advance.
For example, the average tariff level has long been lower than the average of developing countries, and the scale of foreign investment access has also been expanding.
After all, special treatment is not a privilege, but a right to development, but when the mechanism is repeatedly hyped as a political weapon, China’s decision is the precise dismantling of this “story trap.”
China’s role is no longer “defined”
China has chosen to throw the decision on the international stage of the UN General Assembly, which is clearly not a hasty decision, but a public declaration of strategic transformation.
"No more seeking new special and differential treatment" sounds like giving up, but it's actually more like an upgrade.
China has not given up on existing treatments, but is willing to take on more commitments in future trade negotiations and engage in negotiations on rules of higher standards.
In these years, China's position in the global supply chain has long ceased to be a "assembly factory", and the science and technology industry, service trade, and the digital economy have risen comprehensively.
The upsurge of small and medium-sized enterprises going overseas continues, and new energy vehicles and photovoltaic products have entered the European and American markets all the way. These achievements are not "escorted" by any special treatment, but rely on real competitiveness.
More importantly, this decision broke the passive situation of “the U.S. says you’re cheap, you have to explain half a day.”
With practical actions, China directly cut off Trump and his political successors' continued hype of "China identity", which is equivalent to lifting the opponent's table a corner, and also set a brand new benchmark for the next round of China-US economic and trade games.
Of course, not without pressure in the short term, some traditional industries that rely on export subsidies may face higher competitive thresholds.
But this is precisely the opportunity to reverse industrial upgrading, and only under higher rules can Chinese enterprises truly move to the center of the global "speech right".
This is precisely the important node of China's shift from the rule recipient to the rule maker, no longer passively accepting labels, but actively participating in the right to name, this step, steadily and accurately.
Global Response and the New Central American Bureau
This operation of China has sparked a small wave in the international community, and is surprised that it is the mainstream media in the West, after all, they are the best to speak with "China for cheap".
But now China directly pushes "cheap" back, which leaves many people in a hurry, in the eyes of Europeans, China will choose to make such a decision at this point, which they did not think of.
Of course, China’s decision may be understood and supported by developing countries, after all, China has not closed the door to “developing countries” but has chosen to take on more responsibilities where its own economic conditions allow.
Such a gesture of “peer-to-peer” is easier to accept than the consistent “strength-push standard” of the West.
From an international perspective, China's decision will inject a positive signal into WTO reform. When the world's second largest economy begins to participate in rule-making on an equal footing, WTO reform will also have less internal friction and more substantive advancement.
Looking back at Sino-US relations, this move has also laid a new starting point for negotiations between the two countries.
For many years, Trump has been using "developing identity" as an excuse to suppress China. Now this card has been taken back by China itself, and it is not difficult for the United States to repeat the hype.
Although there are still many differences between China and the United States, removing this long-standing controversial point will undoubtedly find more constructive cooperation paths for the two countries.
From a more macro perspective, this also marks a “upgrading” of China’s global image, from “struggle for privileges” to “bear responsibility”, a shift not based on slogans, but on action.
Unlike the "club standard" that the United States has always advocated, China is advocating "shared openness", emphasizing the universality of rules rather than exclusivity, a philosophy that is clearly more attractive in today's multi-polar world pattern.
China defines power by action
So this is not a simple policy adjustment, nor a symbolic gesture, but a profound transformation of China in the new phase of the international order.
From trying to fight for "special treatment" to today, China has gone for more than twenty years.
This path, from running to running and running, now begins to lead, behind the maturity of the system, the confidence of the industry, but also the rediscovery of the global role.
China does not shout slogans, nor engage in the show, but in the face of the world to make a decade-long decision, it is not to give up, but to take responsibility, is deeper into the game, and China also has the desire to meet higher standards.
In an era of a gradually fragmented global governance system, China uses this step to demonstrate the gestures of the participants, as well as the patterns of the shapers.
A true global leader never wins applause by privilege, but respect by responsibility.
reference
China will not seek new special and discriminatory treatment in current and future WTO negotiations.