G8 summit to test resolve on economy, climate change, food security

• Source: Xinhua
• [18:16 July 07 2009]
• Comments

 PUSHING FOR BREAKTHROUGH FOR DOHA ROUND

 Another urgent task for the G8 leaders is to push forward the Doha round of WTO negotiations to revive world economy.

 The Doha round of negotiations commenced in November 2001 with an objective to lower trade barriers around the world, and enable countries, especially the under-developed ones, to increase trade. As of 2008, talks have stalled over major differences on issues such as agriculture, industrial tariffs and non-tariff barriers, services, and trade remedies.

 The prospect for wrapping up the Doha talks is getting even dimmer since the financial crisis has swept across the world. In economic hard times, countries tend to resort to trade protectionism, which, however, would only hurt the world economy further.

 According to a World Bank report released in March, 17 members of the G20and a number of other countries have implemented a total of 47 measures that restrict trade since the crisis broke out, with more trade protective measures likely to be unveiled as the crisis is spreading globally.

 Mounting trade protectionism has posed new challenges to the Doha round, which makes it all the more necessary for the G8 leaders to push forward the trade talks with even greater efforts at the upcoming summit.

 "The financial crisis should not provide any legitimacy for trade protectionism," Zhang Yesui, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said earlier in April.

 "On the contrary, in tackling the financial crisis, it is all the more important to consider how to resist trade protectionism, " the Chinese U.N. envoy said, noting that trade is one of the major engines in driving the world economy to a quick recovery.