WTO members commit for the first time to eliminating agricultural export subsidies

From December 15 to 19, the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference was held in Nairobi, Kenya. Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng led the Chinese delegation, composed of the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture, the General Administration of Customs and the delegation to the WTO, in attending the conference.

After negotiations, the conference adopted the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration and 9 ministerial decisions, committing to continue advancing the Doha agenda: First, WTO members committed for the first time to comprehensively eliminating agricultural export subsidies, and reached new multilateral disciplines on export financing support, cotton, international food aid and other aspects; second, they reached the WTO's first tariff reduction agreement in nearly 18 years——the expanded Information Technology Agreement, involving 1.3 trillion US dollars in international trade; third, they effectively granted preferential treatment to least-developed countries in areas such as preferential rules of origin and services waivers; fourth, they formally approved the accession of Afghanistan and Liberia to the WTO.

During the conference, the Chinese delegation held high the banner of supporting multilateralism, adhered to development goals, made China's voice heard, put forward China's proposals, and promoted peace, negotiations and outcomes, making important efforts for the conference to achieve results.

Before the conference, the Chinese government funded a roundtable meeting on least-developed countries' accession to the WTO, jointly organized by the WTO Secretariat and the Kenyan government, with representatives from 40 least-developed countries attending. Our delegation introduced China's experience in joining the WTO and opening up at the roundtable meeting, and received praise from all sides. The delegation held a dialogue with the four African cotton countries, actively coordinated, and explored strengthening cooperation through Aid for Trade.

The reporter learned that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the WTO, and this was the first time the WTO Ministerial Conference was held on the African continent. More than 3,000 representatives from 162 members attended the conference.