China just want to be the head and tail of supply chain of the world. Chinese plan is just make the world poor depending on them. It's wrong and only America and Europe are challenging China. Imagine around the world factories have closed down leaving everything even tooth pick to be made in China. More poverty around the world the world due to factories close down while China support companies with sudsidies even when they give a country loan they morgage their economy .

Beijing has hit back at Washington's scathing 80-page report on China's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO), calling the compliance assessment groundless and a distortion of the facts.

In turn, it accused Washington of trade bullying, unilateralism and disrupting international supply chains.

"China has consistently supported the multilateral trade system and fulfilled its promises to the WTO," China's commerce ministry said in an online statement on Monday, three days after the annual US report said China's socialist market economy "has turned decidedly predatory".

The salvo of back-and-forth accusations between the world's two largest economies have been a mainstay in relations since the US-China trade war erupted in 2018.

"China remains the biggest challenge to the international trading system established by the World Trade Organization," US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in the report, adding that in the 22 years since China acceded to the WTO, the country still "embraces a state-directed, non-market approach to the economy and trade, which runs counter to the norms and principles embodied by the WTO".

"Even more problematic, China's approach targets industries for global market domination by Chinese companies using an array of constantly evolving nonmarket policies and practices," the report said.

Firing back, China's Ministry of Commerce accused the US of not complying with WTO rules and of implementing "discriminatory" industrial policies that disrupt the global supply chain by deferring the responsibility of defending multilateralism to others.

"The US does not reflect on and correct its own behaviour, but instead uses smear tactics and blame-shifting methods to cover up its violations and sabotage. This is extremely irresponsible," it said.

By wielding its veto power within the Geneva-based organisation's Appellate Body, the US has unilaterally crippled the WTO's appeal court since 2019. Washington has also been taking steps to curb China's supply-chain dominance through reshoring efforts and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, a US-led economic initiative aimed at countering China's many trade agreements in the Indo-Pacific region.

On Sunday, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met with WTO director general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the 13th Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. During the meeting of the world's trade ministers, Wang expressed China's support for key WTO reform initiatives that would help it play a better role in global economic governance.

This, he said, includes striving for a resumption of the WTO's dispute-settlement mechanism - the Appellate Body that the US paralysed by not allowing for new judges to be appointed.

The US report also acknowledged that Washington had taken "critical" domestic steps to invest in key industries, including by passing the Chips and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and moving to implement those acts.

The report further accused China of "routinely" deploying economic and trade policies and practices that promote unfair competition and state-directed outcomes rather than fair competition and market-based outcomes.

"Critically, the WTO has been unable to effectively address China's continued pursuit of a state-led, non-market approach to the economy and trade," it stated.

China's customs figures showed that the value of imports and exports between the US and China in 2023 reached US$664.5 billion - an 11.6 per cent decline from 2022.

The US is now China's third-largest trading partner, after Asean and the European Union.

"China's accession to the WTO has been a landmark event both for China and the rest of the world," Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at French investment bank Natixis, said in a report on Monday. "China has no doubt reformed and opened up its economy, but not to the extent of becoming a full market economy.

"That duality - striving to operate as a market economy in some areas while keeping the key characteristics of a state-led planned economy in others - makes it very difficult for China to comply with the principles of the WTO."

Garcia-Herrero added that it was "highly unlikely" that a WTO-reform proposal by the EU, focusing on the behaviours of state-owned enterprises, subsidies and countervailing measures, would come to fruition.

"In particular, the urgent need to deal with market distortions - stemming from China's economic model, and its increasing size and influence in the rest of the world - might need to be addressed through other solutions," she added.

WTO pushes for reform, warns multilateralism 'under attack'

WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the world was in a tough place as 'uncertainty and instability are everywhere'

The World Trade Organization pushed for reform at a high-level ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi Monday, warning that economic headwinds and geopolitical tensions are threatening global commerce and multilateral trading systems.

The WTO's 13th ministerial conference (MC13), scheduled to run until Thursday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, is the first in two years.

The WTO is hoping for progress, particularly on fishing, agriculture and electronic commerce.

But big deals are unlikely as the body's rules require full consensus among all 164 member states -- a tall order in the current climate.

Speaking on the first day of MC13, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said that "multilateralism is under attack from all sides," highlighting a need to "reform the multilateral trading system" and boost international cooperation.

"Looking around, uncertainty and instability are everywhere," the WTO chief said, adding that the world is in an "even tougher place today" compared to two years ago when WTO trade ministers last met.

Okonjo-Iweala did not name countries, but tensions have risen between the West and Russia and China in recent years.

The war in Gaza and related attacks by Yemeni rebels on ships in the Red Sea have added to the challenges.

Reiterating warnings that signs of "fragmentation" are appearing in the global economy, Okonjo-Iweala said trade volumes for 2023 likely fell below the WTO's October forecast. Trade volumes may also not reach WTO's growth estimates for this year, she warned.

Her push for reform was echoed by UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, who said he hoped MC13 would serve as a "launch pad" for necessary reforms.

"The world has changed. And institutions like the WTO need to evolve too," European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Monday, adding that "geopolitical tensions are on the rise. We are faced with crises wherever we look."

- 'Dispute settlement reform' -

During the WTO's last ministerial meeting, held at its Geneva headquarters in June 2022, trade ministers nailed down a historic deal banning fisheries subsidies harmful to marine life and agreed to a temporary patent waiver for Covid-19 vaccines.

They also committed themselves to re-establishing a dispute settlement system which Washington had brought to a grinding halt in 2019 after years of blocking the appointment of new judges to the WTO's appeals court.

"Our challenge this week is to... demonstrate that MC12 wasn't a one-off miracle," Okonjo-Iweala said.

"I have seen the US engage more and I have to say they have been quite constructive," she told a press conference, dismissing claims of an American leadership vacuum.

The WTO faces pressure to eke out progress on reform in Abu Dhabi ahead of the possible re-election of Donald Trump as US president.

During his four years in office from 2017 to 2021, Trump threatened to pull the United States out of the trade body and disrupted its ability to settle disputes.

"There will be the US elections in November... so this is the last chance," a diplomatic source in Geneva told AFP on condition of anonymity.

On Monday, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said "reform is squarely on the agenda for this week."

That includes "dispute settlement reform, where the goal is not just to go back to the way things used to be, but rather to provide confidence that the system is fair," she said in a statement.

But Marcelo Olarreaga, economics professor at the University of Geneva, said the other members of the WTO "cannot expect huge concessions" from the administration of US President Joe Biden in an election year.

- Fisheries deal -

While there is doubt over progress at the WTO on key issues, there is hope for advances on a new global agreement on tackling fisheries subsidies.

After striking an agreement in 2022, which banned subsidies contributing to illegal, undeclared and unregulated fishing, the WTO hopes to conclude a second deal, this time focusing on subsidies which fuel overcapacity and overfishing.

"We are within sight of ratifying the fisheries subsidies agreement," Okonjo-Iweala said on Monday.

WTO trade ministers could also make advances on facilitating aid for developing countries.

On Monday, the Comoros and East Timor were accepted as WTO members.

Their accession comes a day after more than 120 WTO member states said they finalised an agreement that aims to facilitate investment in developing countries by improving transparency and clearing bureaucratic hurdles.

Despite broad backing, some members may still oppose its integration into the WTO, including India, which typically objects to agreements that do not cover all countries.

Tax-free status of movie, music and games traded online is on table as WTO nations meet in Abu Dhabi

Since late last century and the early days of the web, providers of digital media like Netflix and Spotify have had a free pass when it comes to international taxes on films, video games and music that are shipped across borders through the internet.

But now, a global consensus on the issue may be starting to crack.

As the World Trade Organization opens its latest biannual meeting of government ministers Monday, its longtime moratorium on duties on e-commerce products — which has been renewed almost automatically since 1998 — is coming under pressure as never before.

This week in Abu Dhabi, the WTO’s 164 member countries will take up a number of key issues: Subsidies that encourage overfishing. Reforms to make agricultural markets fairer and more eco-friendly. And efforts to revive the Geneva-based trade body’s system of resolving disputes among countries.

All of those are tall orders, but the moratorium on e-commerce duties is perhaps the matter most in play. It centers on “electronic transmissions” — music, movies, video games and the like — more than on physical goods. But the rulebook isn't clear on the entire array of products affected.

“This is so important to millions of businesses, especially small- and medium-sized businesses,” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said. “Some members believe that this should be extended and made permanent. Others believe ... there are reasons why it should not."

“That’s why there’s been a debate and hopefully — because it touches on lives of many people — we hope that ministers would be able to make the appropriate decision,” she told reporters recently.

Under WTO's rules, major decisions require consensus. The e-commerce moratorium can't just sail through automatically. Countries must actively vote in favor for the extension to take effect.

Four proposals are on the table: Two would extend the suspension of duties. Two — separately presented by South Africa and India, two countries that have been pushing their interests hard at the WTO — would not.

Proponents say the moratorium benefits consumers by helping keep costs down and promotes the wider rollout of digital services in countries both rich and poor.

Critics say it deprives debt-burdened governments in developing countries of tax revenue, though there’s debate over just how much state coffers would stand to gain.

The WTO itself says that on average, the potential loss would be less than one-third of 1% of total government revenue.

The stakes are high. A WTO report published in December said the value of “digitally delivered services” exports grew by more than 8% from 2005 to 2022 — higher than goods exports (5.6%) and other-services exports (4.2%).

Growth has been uneven, though. Most developing countries don’t have digital networks as extensive as those in the rich world. Those countries see less need to extend the moratorium — and might reap needed tax revenue if it ends.

South Africa's proposal, which seeks to end the moratorium, calls for the creation of a fund to receive voluntary contributions to bridge the “digital divide.” It also wants to require “leading platforms” to boost the promotion of “historically disadvantaged” small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Industry, at least in the United States, is pushing hard to extend the moratorium. In a Feb. 13 letter to Biden administration officials, nearly two dozen industry groups, including the Motion Picture Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Entertainment Software Association — a video-game industry group — urged the United States to give its “full support” to a renewal.

“Accepting anything short of a multilateral extension of the moratorium that applies to all WTO members would open the door to the introduction of new customs duties and related cross-border restrictions that would hurt U.S. workers in industries across the entire economy,” the letter said.

A collapse would deal a “major blow to the credibility and durability" of the WTO and would mark the first time that its members "changed the rules to make it substantially harder to conduct trade,” wrote the groups, which said their members include companies that combined employ over 100 million workers.