The Future of WTO:Constructing Plurilateral Agreements as an Effective Path to Revitalize the Multilateral Trade System
With the intensification of global conflicts,the members of the WTO have seen their divergence on acceptance of unified rules.Reaching more consensus through open plurilateral negotiations is an innova-tive measure taken by China and other WTO members to solve the impasse in the WTO negotiations.The mechanism of the Joint Statement Initiatives(JSIs)modernizes the negotiating function in innovative ways to make the WTO more relevant and resilient,helping to restore the WTO's centrality in world trade.If the JSIs adopts an open plurilateral model,it is compatible with the WTO's multilateral underpinnings,and has legitimacy in general international law,while it does not violate the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization(MA).There are three different ways in which the JSIs can be added to the WTO acquis without the need to carry out an amendment to the WTO rulebook.They are modification of schedules,incorporating plurilateral Agreements in Annex 4 to the MA,and development of soft law.In the current international trade environment,the effective path to revitalize multilateralism is to reach plurilateral agreements through plurilateral approach and gradually multilateralize them across a whole range of the WTO members.China should hold the direction,develop strategies,benchmark the outcome of the JSIs negotiations and promote the reform of the WTO negotiation model towards a more reasonable and effec-tive direction.
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