Xinhua Agency, Geneva, October 7 (Reporter Jiao Qian) The World Trade Organization held the fourth meeting of the General Council in 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland from the 6th to the 7th. China took the initiative to set topics and called on WTO members to collectively respond to the current growing trade turmoil and jointly safeguard the core values and principles of the multilateral trading system.

China's Permanent Representative at the WTO, Li Qiang, said that the current global economic and trade unrest continues to intensify, this is the fourth time that China has set up the "Exacerbating Trade Unrest and WTO Response" agenda at the General Council this year.The U.S. trade policy to disrupt supply chains and global markets has become the main source of global instability; the U.S. has forced some members to reach bilateral agreements with unilateral tariffs, affecting the legitimate rights and interests of third parties, leading to a "power-based" trade relationship that is gradually eroding the "rule-based" multilateral trading system.

Li Yongzhen said that in order to cope with the intensifying trade turmoil, China has put forward three suggestions: first, strengthen transparency and supervision; second, collectively reaffirm its adherence to and commitment to the rules-based multilateral trading system; and third, take practical actions to promote The WTO achieves pragmatic results.

The European Union, Brazil, Australia, Switzerland, Pakistan and other parties spoke calling for safeguarding the basic principles of the WTO and promoting WTO reform. The EU expresses serious concern that the "rules-based" multilateral trading system is being eroded by "power-based" trade relations. Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and others called on the WTO Secretariat to strengthen supervision of unilateral tariffs and relevant bilateral agreements, and encouraged members that have reached bilateral agreements to proactively notify the WTO. Nigeria and Bangladesh emphasized the impact of unilateral tariffs and uncertainty in the trading environment on vulnerable developing members and called on the WTO to provide them with necessary assistance. Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and other members strongly condemned the unilateral tariffs and coercive practices of the United States.