A nation's changing economic influence and fortunes can alter its economic philosophy, and that is what is happening between the United States and China in regard to global free trade and economic globalisation, former vice-minister of commerce Wei Jianguo says.
'In the decade since its admission to the World Trade Organisation, China has become a keen supporter of further trade liberalisation and economic globalisation, while adversely, the US, long the advocator of these doctrines, has been tilting toward protectionism and bilateralism,' Wei (pictured) told the Post last week before the 10th anniversary of China's entry into the global trade family.
Wei put the blame squarely on Washington for the failure of the WTO's decade-long talks to deepen trade reforms.
China's admission to the WTO a decade ago coincided with the launch of the Doha round of trade talks, which is theoretically seen as dead as the 153 members failed to agree to a watered-down global trade deal by this month.
WTO director general Pascal Lamy said it was up to the US and China, the largest and second-largest economies in the world, to decide the fate of the Doha Development Agenda, which had been billed as the next leap forward in freeing trade until it collapsed earlier this year.
Trade experts say one consequence of Doha's failure is a splintering of efforts to liberalise world trade, with countries increasingly striking bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) instead of pushing for one global deal.