Giving up Developing-country Status at WTO: China Should Correct Inconsistency between Words and Actions First

Editorial

15:35 JST, October 10, 2025

China is embarking on a new strategy in an attempt to replace the United States as the lead player in international cooperation. If Beijing intends to fulfill this responsibility, it may need to first correct the inconsistency between its words and actions.

Last month, China announced it would give up its status as a “developing country” entitled to preferential treatment in World Trade Organization free trade negotiations.

China has maintained its developing-country status since joining the WTO in 2001. It explained this renunciation as a way to clarify its position and responsibilities as a major power supporting free trade.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s high tariff policy has brought the free trade system that has driven global development to the brink of crisis. China likely intends to take advantage of this opportunity to play a leading role in promoting free trade.

The WTO emphasizes mutually beneficial development between developed and developing nations. Based on the premise that the uniform application of rules is difficult, developing countries are allowed to use high tariffs and provide subsidies to the agricultural sector, among other measures, to protect their domestic industries.

Given this principle, it is fair to say that China’s decision came rather too late. This is because China became the world’s second largest economy in 2010, with remarkable advances in science and technology as well.

However, while China is abandoning its developing-country status in WTO rulemaking, it insists that it remains the world’s largest developing country. Beijing likely intends to continue acting as a representative of developing nations.

It cannot be said that China is acting in a trustworthy manner in promoting free trade. It has been criticized for providing unfair subsidies to Chinese companies, thereby hindering fair competition.

China also noticeably engages in “economic coercion” through which it imposes import and export restrictions to force trading partners to accept its specific demands. It would be reasonable for the country to correct its own behavior first.

China has also argued that developed countries, which have emitted large amounts of greenhouse gases in the past, should bear greater responsibility for the issue of global warming.

Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a new target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 7%-10% below peak levels by 2035. However, China’s emissions are the world’s largest, accounting for about 30% of the total. This target falls far short of the reduction efforts made by developed nations and lacks boldness.

As Trump has criticized climate change measures as “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” China’s strategy is evidently a ploy to take a leading role.

It is Trump who has enabled China to act this way. If he turns his back on free trade and the global warming issue, the center of gravity in the international order could shift toward China. This is not a situation in which to stand idly by.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 10, 2025)