Preliminary
At a time when globalization is cold and protectionism rises, people are accustomed to seeing them asking others to abide by the rules, while themselves are willing to “retreat” or “reliance”.
However, in this context, a promise made by China at the UN General Assembly in new york has attracted world attention: China announced that it will no longer seek new special and differential treatment in the current and future negotiations of the WTO.
You know, as the largest developing country in the world, China has every right to continue to apply for such a "policy buffer".
In the end, however, we decided to opt out of this special treatment.
Why is China making such a statement?
On September 23, local time, at the scene of the high-level conference of the Global Development Initiative at the United Nations headquarters in New York, a statement from China caused a global public opinion shock: As a responsible and developing country, China will not seek new special and discriminatory treatment in current and future WTO negotiations.
This news quickly occupied the mainstream international media, and some interpreted it as a response to Western long-term demands. “The West is willing to pay for it.” Becoming the focus of hot discussion, the deep logic and reality behind this statement is gradually becoming clear to the world.
Special and differential treatment is the core content of institutional preferences granted to developing member countries under the WTO framework, covering lower levels of open commitments, longer transitional periods for implementation of obligations and support for building trade capacity, with the initial purpose of compensating for the structural disadvantages of developing member participation in international trade and helping them to smoothly integrate into the global economic system.
When China joined the WTO as a developing member in 2001, it was through this system arrangement that it gradually lowered the threshold for integration into the global market, growing into the world's second largest economy in just over twenty years, and also becoming the largest trading partner of more than 120 countries and regions.
With the improvement of China's economic strength, some Western countries, represented by the United States, have begun to frequently question the rationality of this treatment. Since the Trump administration, they have continued to hype "China is no longer a developing country"。
In March 2023, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution not to recognize China's status as a developing country and continued to put pressure on multilateral occasions to cancel China's relevant preferential treatment.
China’s announcement is not a passive compromise, but a proactive choice based on its own development strength and global governance pattern.
On September 24, Li Zheng Steel, the representative for international trade negotiations of the Ministry of Commerce, made it clear that this position is an important measure to safeguard the multilateral trade system and implement the global development initiative.
From an economic basis. China's per capita GDP has exceeded $10,000, becoming a middle-income country.
The complete industrial system and the huge domestic demand market have given its participation in global fair competition, and the global competitiveness of photovoltaic, new energy vehicles and other industries has further demonstrated the strength of the international market without special treatment.
From the point of view of the decision-making process, this decision is the result of long-term research, and the relevant expert team has since 2020 carried out in-depth arguments through multiple channels, eventually forming a pragmatic solution that takes into account its own position and international responsibility.
It is worth noting that China's statement has a clear boundary definition, and it does not give up all relevant rights and interests.
Su Qingyi, director of the International Trade Research Office of the Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, summarized it as " No increase, no increase.”。
The previous WTO agreements, such as General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and General Agreement on Trade in ServicesChina will continue to enjoy the existing special and discriminatory treatment provisions and will no longer require additional transitional periods, exemptions or lower obligations only in future negotiations on a new agreement.
Ding, an assistant professor at China Political Law University International Law School, emphasized in particular that the word "new" in this declaration is crucial, it has nothing to do with the recognition of the status of a member of the developing world, under the WTO system, the status of a member of the developing world is determined by itself, and there are no unified quantitative standards, and China's position as the world's largest developing country has not changed.
The Foreign Ministry’s spokesman also made clear that China’s determination to defend the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries and to promote the liberalization and facilitation of global trade has remained unchanged.
In the context of the current rise of unilateralism, protectionism and the shock of the multilateral trade system, China's measures have injected a key momentum into global economic and trade governance.
WTO Director-General Iweala bluntly stated in a statement on September 24th that this action sent a strong signal of support for WTO reform, which will inject vitality into relevant discussions and help build a more flexible and efficient organization.
In terms of practical impact, this move will not only accelerate the WTO’s negotiation process in emerging areas such as e-commerce and investment facilitation.
These are the areas where China has the leading ability, and it can better unite the strength of developing countries and push multilateral rules to tilt towards "development orientation".
China has previously implemented global development initiatives through a series of pragmatic actions. Starting from December 1, 2024, it will apply zero tariffs to 100% of tax items of the least developed countries that have established diplomatic relations. In June 2025, it announced that it will implement equivalent tariff preferences for 53 African countries that have established diplomatic relations. This time, the abandonment of new special treatment further continues its consistent position of assuming more international responsibilities and sharing development dividends.
Reality gives a complicated answer to the question of "whether westerners get what they want".
On the surface, years of pressure from the West seem to have achieved its goal, but in fact, China's initiative has dispelled its excuse for attack, and even exposed the double standards of some countries-while asking China to give up preferential treatment, it retains a large amount of subsidies for its agriculture and technology industries.
The deeper impact is that through this initiative, China has completed the upgrading of its role from “multilateral rule adapter” to “builder and leader”, creating a positive atmosphere for negotiations ahead of the upcoming 14th WTO Ministerial Conference, and creating conditions for promoting the resumption of dispute resolution mechanisms.
conclusion
As many international observers have pointed out, China’s choice demonstrates the responsibility of the great powers, and its true value is not in meeting the demands of certain countries, but in providing stability to the turbulent world economy, indicating the direction of cooperation for the reform of the global governance system.
China’s development has been driven by the multilateral trade system, and it is now rebuilt by practical action.
Giving up seeking new special and differential treatment is not only a clear understanding of one's own development stage, but also a firm safeguard of global common interests.
On this road of giving consideration to responsibilities and rights and interests, China, as a member of the "Global South", is joining hands with developing countries to push global economic governance towards a more just and reasonable direction.