Tuesday, December 6, 2011

China and WTO

The Doha Development Agenda round of multilateral trade negotiations has been described by many as a sinking ship wherein no substantial progress will be made  due to a variety of reasons.


In an interesting working paper titled China Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, Aaditya Matoo and Arvind Subramanian argue that the Doha round does not adequately reflect the new reality of China and  a China-led agenda can revive the negotiations in WTO and lead to successful results.


They conclude,


"The WTO has been, and can continue to be, unique among all the international institutions, a vital and effective forum for cooperation between the major nations, even one that will be as dominant as China. The current Doha Agenda may be dying, but the WTO is alive and, with the right agenda, could yet flourish. It could provide a much-needed growth boost to the status quo powers, and a means to consolidate competitiveness for the new powers. For, China it could provide an opportunity to signal its commitment to multilateralism and to being a benign hegemon—a panda bear rather than a dragon."


Time for a  Beijing Agenda ?



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