China abandons developing-country status in bid to bolster WTO amid tariff tensions

China on Wednesday said it would no longer seek special developing-country treatment in World Trade Organization agreements, a step Beijing described as necessary to strengthen the global trading system amid tariff wars and rising protectionism. Commerce Ministry officials said the move targets ongoing and future negotiations, not existing agreements. Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced the decision in New York, during a China-organized development forum held alongside the United Nations General Assembly.

Beijing stressed the shift is voluntary and not a signal that other developing nations should follow suit. Officials did not quantify any potential changes in market access for foreign goods into China’s vast economy, saying the announcement was focused on reform of the multilateral trading system rather than immediate concessions. China, which remains a middle-income country, emphasized that it will continue to identify as developing even as it sheds the formal pursuit of special status in WTO talks.

China’s move comes as the World Trade Organization, which counts 166 members, confronts questions about how to enforce and reform its rules in an era of growing state involvement in economies worldwide. The decision was described by Li Yihong, China’s top envoy to the WTO, as a voluntary measure and stressed that the issue of developing-member status and the special-differential treatment are related but distinct. “It’s China’s own decision,” Li said in Geneva, adding that the country “will always be a developing country.”

The United States has long argued that China should relinquish its developing-country status because of its large and increasingly advanced economy. Washington has contended that the special provisions granted to developing members can shield China and other large economies from faster implementation timelines or stricter disciplines. Beijing’s statement did not frame the change as a concession to U.S. demands but rather as part of a broader push to reform the WTO and address what it calls distortions in global trade.

Although the WTO does not formally categorize members as developed or developing, several countries maintain self-designations and push for accommodations tied to those labels. The move comes amid a period of intensified tariff actions and protectionist measures by various states, including tariff rounds and import restrictions that have strained global supply chains. In recent years, critics in the United States and Europe have pressed China and others to open markets further and adhere to more stringent trade rules, arguing that greater openness benefits global growth and fair competition.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the WTO director-general, described the Chinese move as “major news key to WTO reform” in a post on X, calling it the culmination of years of hard work. The reaction from Beijing and the WTO signals a potential reorientation of how rules governing developing countries’ obligations are applied in negotiations, even as member states debate the pace and scope of reform. The unfolding situation is likely to influence current negotiations on tariff schedules, access to goods, and the treatment of state-backed investments and development lending, all of which have become flashpoints in a trading order under pressure from protectionist trends and geopolitical tensions.