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China and 75 WTO Members Released Joint Statement on Electronic Commerce in Davos

Date:2019-01-30  Hits:21

On 25th January 2019, following an informal meeting of ministers on electronic commerce held in Davos of Switzerland, China, together with 75 other WTO members including Australia, Brazil, EU, Japan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Russia, Singapore and US, issued a Joint Statement on Electronic Commerce, confirming their intention to commence WTO negotiations on trade-related aspects of electronic commerce, building on existing WTO agreements and frameworks with the participation of as many WTO members as possible. In the statement, members emphasize that they recognize and will take into account the unique opportunities and challenges faced by members, including developing countries and LDCs, as well as micro, small and medium sized enterprises, in relation to electronic commerce. They encourage all WTO members to participate in order to further enhance the benefits of electronic commerce for business, consumers and the global economy. At the meeting, the importance of making the negotiation an open, transparent, inclusive and non-discriminatory process was highlighted by members.

In recent years, China’s electronic commerce has seen a boom and played a significant role in promoting the country’s economic and trade growth, as well as inclusive and sustainable economic development. As one of the world’s biggest electronic commerce markets with significant progress pace, China has been attaching great importance to the international cooperation in this area. China has been an active rule-maker on electronic commerce in its bilateral and regional free trade agreements, and tabled several submissions at the WTO in an effort to facilitate progress in the multilateral discussions on the topic. China supports making rules on trade-related aspects of electronic commerce at the WTO. This serves the revitalization of the WTO negotiating function and the necessary reform of the WTO, and will help the WTO better respond to calls from the industry and boost the confidence of all in the multilateral trading system and economic globalization at large.

China holds that the WTO negotiations on trade-related aspects of electronic commerce shall contribute to the multilateral trading system, adopt an open process and focus on development, with full respect accorded to the reasonable requests of developing members. China believes that the WTO negotiations on trade-related aspects of electronic commerce shall strike a balance among technological development, business development and the legitimate public policy objectives of various members, and reach an outcome acceptable to all members through equal consultation. only by so doing, can the huge potential of electronic commerce be brought into full play, thus assisting the vast number of developing members to take hold of and benefit from relevant development opportunities, hence better participate in economic globalization.

Ambassador Zhang Xiangchen, Permanent Representative of China to the WTO, attended the informal meeting on behalf of Honorable Mr. Zhong Shan, Minister of Commerce of China.

 
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