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
The Palestinian death toll in Gaza Strip has risen to 50,423, with 114,638 injured, after nearly 18 months of Israeli military operations, Gaza health authorities said Wednesday.
Local medical sources noted that since the Israeli army resumed its operations on March 18, the number of fatalities has reached 1,066, while 2,597 have been injured.
In the past 24 hours alone, hospitals in Gaza received 24 fatalities and 55 injured. Many bodies remain trapped beneath the rubble, with ambulances and civil defense personnel struggling to reach them.
According to a report by the Times of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Wednesday that it had carried out strikes on over 50 sites belonging to Hamas and other militant groups, ahead of a major ground push into the southern Gaza Strip. During the day, dozens more strikes were carried out across Gaza.
In addition, the IDF issued a statement on Wednesday night that it had intercepted two rockets launched from northern Gaza. Air raid sirens were activated in areas near the Gaza Strip, and local media said that there are no reports of injuries or damage in the attack. The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to Palestinian media reports on Wednesday, the Israeli air force targeted a medical facility operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. The head of Gaza-based health authorities reported on the same day that 19 people were killed in the attack.
The Israeli military stated on Wednesday that it had struck a Hamas command center in Jabalia.
On Wednesday night, Al Jazeera quoted relevant sources as saying that Hamas officials had received Israel's response to the ceasefire proposal, which had been put forward by mediators and accepted by Hamas. Based on this response, they concluded that Israel had rejected the proposal.
Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 50,423
