File photo taken on April 2, 2019 shows the WTO logo on the main gate of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)

China will not follow South Korea or feel any pressure as Western media claimed after South Korea decided to give up its developing country status at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Friday, because of different economic development levels and to maintain international fairness and justice, Chinese economists said. 

South Korea's decision came after US President Donald Trump put pressure on the WTO in July to change how it designates developing countries, and listed countries, including China and South Korea, for "unfairly getting preferential treatment." 

"We are in a difficult situation to be recognized as a developing country for any longer in the international community, given South Korea's economic standing," the Yonhap News Agency quoted South Korean Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki as saying.

South Korea has kept its developing country status since 1995 to protect its agriculture industry, especially rice, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

Western media, including the Financial Times, claimed that South Korea's move will pressure China to follow suit. 

Experts said who the developing members of the WTO are and by what criteria and procedure they are categorized are not decided by the US or some Western media. Pressuring China to give up its developing country status reflects Western hegemony, with the ultimate purpose of containing China. 

Bai Ming, deputy director of the Ministry of Commerce's International Market Research Institute, told the Global Times that South Korea's decision will not pressure China, as China is still a developing country. 

As the world's second-largest economy and one of the fastest growing economies, China lags behind developed countries in GDP per capita, and reducing income gap and poor population. 

The World Bank said China's GDP per capita in 2018 was $9,771 and South Korea's was $31,363. The average world GDP per capita in 2018 was $11,298, while the average GDP per capita of developed countries, including the US and UK, was more than $40,000. 

Li Chunding, head of the Economics and Trade Department of the College of Economics and Management at China Agricultural University, told the Global Times that China, as the world's biggest developing country, does not intend to shy away from its due international responsibilities, and will uphold the basic rights of developing countries and safeguard international justice and fairness. 

In a recent report, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development proposed the idea that development is a multi-dimensional concept. The current categorization of developing countries is reasonable.