News 1+1 | Why Is China Voluntarily Relinquishing WTO Special and Differential Treatment?

China has officially declared that it will no longer request new special and differential treatment in both ongoing and future World Trade Organization negotiations—a first since its accession in 2001.

This decision raises immediate questions: what developments have prompted China to forgo benefits it previously sought, how does this reflect its evolving role in the global trading system, and what consequences might this shift hold for China’s economic diplomacy and the rules governing international trade?

Relinquishing special and differential treatment does not alter China’s status as a developing country, officials from the Ministry of Commerce have emphasized. Special and differential provisions are rights afforded to WTO members that self-identify as developing economies. China’s announcement therefore represents a choice to waive the entitlement to additional negotiating flexibilities, not a renunciation of its developing-country designation.

Tu Xinquan, Dean of the China WTO Research Institute at the University of International Business and Economics, explains that membership and the right to special treatment are distinct. While every member that classifies itself as a developing country automatically qualifies for differentiated treatment, it can also elect to surrender that privilege. China continues to affirm its developing-country identity—the same status it declared upon joining the WTO—while opting to negotiate on the basis of its own economic circumstances rather than the generalized allowances granted to other low- and middle-income members.

Observers have long noted occasions when some trading partners have invoked China’s rising economic stature to limit its access to developing-country benefits. By formally removing itself from future special-treatment discussions, China aims to resolve these disputes once and for all. Instead of evaluating each negotiation topic on a case-by-case basis, Beijing will now pursue commitments tailored to its own level of development, freeing the dialogue from repeated debates over entitlement.

The move is expected to reshape China’s strategy in key negotiations, including the WTO e-commerce agreement. As one of the world’s largest digital-trade markets and a pioneer in cross-border e-commerce, China has contributed practical policy models that inform international rulemaking. Tu Xinquan notes that in the final stages of the e-commerce talks, China has assumed full obligations alongside other participants, while also assisting fellow developing members in securing carve-outs for public-interest concerns. Beijing now works jointly with those partners to finalize and implement the pact, underscoring a commitment to both multilateral rule-building and the legitimate needs of emerging economies.