China's declaration of itself as a developing country draws flak from across the world
Jan 27, 2022
Beijing [China], January 27 : China's declaration of itself as a developing country in the latest World Trade Organization's (WTO) trade policy review has drawn sharp criticism from across the world as it will enable China to get benefits from WTO, reported a Canada-based think-tank International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS).
The main criticism is that China is not taking responsibility for implementing environmental policies and climate change policies, despite having some of the world's worst polluted cities.
China is also delaying implementation of trading standards required by WTO Agreements and Chinese market players have unfair advantages, reported the think-tank.
The country is drawing flak as it is one of the strong economies in the world and yet it has declared itself as a developing country.
All the WTO members are mandated to undergo this policy review at regular intervals.
A member country of the WTO with 'developing' status gets certain rights and benefits in the form of special provisions in WTO Agreements, relating to Technical assistance, safeguarding trading interests and relaxed timelines for implementation of agreements.
Notably, WTO does not have any definitions for 'developed' and 'developing' countries and it is up to the countries to declare themselves as 'developed' or 'developing'.
However, such a declaration can be challenged by other member countries.
The criticism comes at a time when China has the world's largest number of billionaires. Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen are three of the world's ten largest stock exchanges.
As of 2020, China is the largest receiver of foreign direct investment (FDI). It is also the second-largest creditor, after Japan.
Moreover, it is well-known that China is the largest manufacturer and exporter of goods. In 2019, China reported 206 unicorns; private companies which are worth at least $1 billion. It beat the USA, which hosts 203 unicorns, reported the think-tank.
Beijing also surpassed San Francisco to become the world's unicorn capital with 82 unicorns.
Amid all this, China, an emerging global superpower is still categorizing itself as a developing nation and the world is criticizing the country for not taking any responsibility and simply looking out to avail WTO benefits.
