Chinese president calls for fair, transparent "multilateral trade regime"

Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday called for the establishment of an "open, fair, rational and transparent international multilateral trade regime" and said the Doha Round should "push for trade liberalization and expand market openness."

"The development of the world's multilateral trade regime is now at a critical moment," Hu said at a dialogue meeting here between the Group of Eight (G8) leaders and leaders from China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico.

However, the Chinese president said, trade barriers, frequent trade frictions and trade protectionism are hampering the regime's healthy development and creating new uncertainties for global economic growth.

The establishment of an open, fair, rational and transparent international multilateral trade regime that is non-exclusive and non-discriminatory contributes to the stability and growth of regional and global trade, promotes a balanced and sustained expansion of world economy and serves the interests of all parties, Hu noted.

On the Doha Round, he said that as developing members account for 85 percent of WTO membership, negotiations should take full account of the development level and tolerance of the developing members and leave them with necessary policy leeway in terms of special and differential treatment to implement development strategies consistent with their own conditions.

"The Doha Round should aim to earnestly push trade liberalization and progressively expand market openness," the Chinese president said.

Hu called on the international community to work together to make the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference a success and pave the way for completing the Doha negotiations in 2006.

"We should seize the opportunities, show good faith, sort out the difference and expand the common ground so as to push the negotiations forward with a flexible and pragmatic attitude," said the Chinese president.

As to the role played by his country in world trade, Hu said the Chinese government has been a supporter for and active participant in the multilateral trading regime.

Since joining the WTO, China has strictly lived up to its commitments by improving and updating its laws and regulations and increasing its openness to the outside world, he said.

China, which has become the third largest importer globally and the largest in Asia, promises a tremendous market potential, said the Chinese president, adding that with a total import and export volume of 1,154.8 billion US dollars in 2004, China has become an important growth engine for world economy.

Hu said his country's development goal is to quadruple its 2000 GDP by 2020, reaching 4 trillion dollars with a per capita GDP of some 3,000 dollars, noting that this quadrupling will apply to both the scale of the Chinese market and its aggregate demand.

"I am confident that, during this process, many countries in the world will benefit from China's development and find for themselves huge business opportunities," he said. "Not only the Chinese people will become better off from a more prosperous China, the whole world will enjoy the opportunities of development it brings along."

The Chinese president concluded that as its economy expands, China is bound to make even greater contribution to world economic growth.

Leaders of the G8 and the five developing countries were gathering here to discuss the global economy, climate change and other major world issues.

Source: Xinhua