The panel consisted of Simon Lester, Mary Lovely and Neysun Mahboubi. Padideh Ala’i, Professor of Law at WCL and Director of the Trade, Investment and Development Program moderated the session.
Mr. Simon Lester, President of the China Trade Monitor and Co-Founder and President of WorldTradelaw.net, started the session by discussing the role of China at WTO and the journey from its accession to WTO till present times. He opined that China has acted both positively and negatively in its relationship with the WTO. China has interest in defending WTO commitments and is generally not a country that holds up WTO standards. During the Covid-19 pandemic, China and the US were able to work out intellectual property disagreements regarding Covid vaccines. However, there are also instances where China has not acted in line with its international commitments, especially regarding Taiwan or regarding government procurement. For example, China presented objections to a Taiwanese delegate as the new chair of the WTO’s Government Procurement Committee. He also explained that the US has an unclear conception of the future of the WTO dispute settlement. He stated that China appears to be waiting for the US proposals on WTO dispute settlement. Beyond dispute settlement, transparency is a major issue with China.

Ms. Mary Lovely, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute and Professor of Economics and Melvin A. Eggers Faculty Scholar at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, addressed China’s role in the WTO. She stated that China does not look at reform very positively. In China’s opinion, any reform means “all countries coming together to work against China.”  This suspicion of China is strengthened by the US’s vague
statements and lack of substance in support of the WTO. She opined that the US Officials and policymakers should spend more time in understanding the challenges as well as politics of China. She stated both the US and China have complex politics, most of it is inward looking within the country’s own borders, which radiates out into problems for the global economy.

Mr. Neysun Mahboubi, a Research Scholar of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China at the University of Pennsylvania and Lecturer in Law at Penn Law School, explained that China has become a sophisticated WTO member. There was a domestic interest when China joined the WTO in 2001, which is much weaker today. Hence China is not particularly interested in supporting WTO reform. He further stated that China is extremely protective of its concerns which makes it extremely difficult for anyone outside its borders to know what is happening within China and Chinese leadership. In dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a divide within Chinese leadership about whether Covid mitigation policies should be implemented at the expense of Chinese economy. He also stated that in its initial years of WTO membership, Chinese leadership looked at economic growth as a source of performative legitimacy, but now it has to look for new sources to achieve this performative legitimacy.

In conclusion, the US-China relationship is at the lowest in the present times, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine may have given China a breather but it remains a long-term threat. The discord on both sides is not helpful, and there are few issues, including forced labor in supply chains, human rights violations, and the relations with Taiwan, which makes it more difficult to try to improve the relations between US-China.

... both the US and China have complex politics, most of it is inward looking within the country’s own borders, which radiates out into problems for the global economy.

Summary of remarks by Mary Lovely at AUWCL in July 2022