China announced Wednesday that it will no longer seek the preferential treatment afforded to developing countries under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules — a long-standing demand of the United States.
Officials from China’s Commerce Ministry said the step was intended to strengthen the global trading system at a time when it faces pressure from tariff wars and protectionist import restrictions by individual countries. The change will apply to ongoing and future negotiations, not existing trade agreements.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala welcomed the decision, saying it removes a major source of contention and could help pave the way for reform. “It takes away one of the criticisms in the organization that relatively well-off countries were still enjoying these privileges,” she said at a summit in New York, noting that Washington’s response was “positive — but also ‘about time.’”
The announcement was first made Tuesday in New York by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, during a China-organized development forum on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Beijing emphasized that the move was voluntary and not meant as guidance for other developing nations. “It’s China’s own decision,” said Li Yihong, China’s top envoy to the WTO, speaking in Geneva.
The WTO, with 166 member states, provides a forum for trade talks and enforces global agreements, but its effectiveness has waned in recent years, prompting urgent calls for reform. Special and differential treatment provisions give developing countries more time to implement trade rules, technical assistance, and exemptions from some obligations binding on richer economies.
While Chinese officials underscored that the country remains a middle-income nation and part of the developing world, they acknowledged the distinction between “developing member” status and the WTO’s special treatment rules. “China will always be a developing country,” Li said.
The U.S. has long argued that China’s position as the world’s second-largest economy is inconsistent with its claim to developing-country benefits. Increasingly, Beijing has also become a global lender, financing infrastructure projects abroad through its state-owned companies.
Chinese officials did not directly mention U.S. President Donald Trump, who has imposed tariffs on multiple countries this year, including China.
