China will remain committed to the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun at a press briefing in Beijing on Monday.
Guo made the statement in response to a media query about the 30th founding anniversary of the WTO this year, as the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the organization was signed by 123 countries on April 15, 1994, leading to its birth on January 1, 1995.
"The World Trade Organization is the core of the multilateral trading system. Over the past 30 years since its establishment, it has ensured the overall steady and orderly operation of global trade by providing an open, stable and predictable institutional environment, strengthened economic and trade cooperation among its members, and promoted developing economies’ participation in and benefit from economic globalization, and made important contributions to enhancing the well-being of people in all countries and promoting sustainable development," Guo said.
"Free trade is the inevitable requirement for the development of the world economy, and its fundamental goal is to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results and promote common development. Engaging in protectionism and building 'small yard and high walls' seriously disrupt the global production and supply chains and impair the common and long-term interests of all countries. China will continue to uphold its original intention of joining the WTO, and work with the international community to uphold the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, and continue to promote the liberalization and facilitation of global trade and investment to better benefit the world," he said.
China to uphold WTO-centered multilateral trading system: spokesman
