On February 25, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao attended and addressed the opening ceremony of the 12th China Round Table on WTO Accessions held in Abu Dhabi, the UAE. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, WTO Director-General Iweala, Ministers from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and other WTO members delivered speeches. The meeting was chaired by Zhang Xiangchen, Deputy Director-General of the WTO. Vice Minister of Commerce Li Fei and Ambassador of China’s Permanent Mission to the WTO Li Chenggang attended the event.

Wang said that China has always supported developing countries, including Arab states, in integrating into the multilateral trading system, and insists on benefiting the whole world with its own development. China will continue to carry out South-South cooperation within the framework of the multilateral trading system, further implement the China Program, make the multilateral trading system more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all, implement the Global Development Initiative with concrete actions, and promote the building of a global development community with a shared future.

During the event, Wang and WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala signed a new Memorandum of Understanding of the WTO’s Least-Developed Countries and Accessions Programme. Launched in 2011 by China and the WTO Secretariat, the China Program aims to strengthen LDCs’ participation in the WTO and assist acceding governments in joining the organization. The China Round Table, an integral part of the China Program, has been held since 2012. This year’s session looks at Arab perspectives on WTO accession, shares the best practices of Arab states’ accession, and discusses how to improve the design of technological assistance and capacity building, with a view to helping Arab states join the WTO and benefit from the multilateral trading system at an early date.

(All information published on this website is authentic in Chinese. English is provided for reference only.)