The World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (3rd L) speaks at a press conference on WTO's latest Global Trade Outlook and Statistics report at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Oct. 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Ma Ruxuan)

China has called on World Trade Organization (WTO) members to work together to tackle rising trade turmoil and safeguard multilateralism during a WTO General Council meeting held from Monday to Tuesday in Geneva, state broadcaster CCTV News reported on Wednesday.

The Chinese side took the initiative to place the issue on the agenda, urging members to close ranks around multilateral rules amid mounting unilateral disruption in the world. The call was echoed by many WTO members.

The current global economic and trade situation continues to be "marked by increasing turbulence," Li Yongjie, head of the Permanent Mission of China to the WTO, told delegates to the WTO meeting. 

Li noted that US' trade policies have disrupted global supply chains and markets, becoming a major source of global instability. The US is using unilateral tariffs to coerce some WTO members into signing bilateral agreements, which infringes upon the legitimate rights and interests of many third parties, Li said. 

This has led to a "power-based" trade relationship that is gradually eroding the "rules-based" multilateral trading system, and China expresses serious concerns over this, Li said, according to the CCTV News report.

Li outlined three recommendations in response to the escalating trade turbulence in the world: first, to enhance transparency and monitoring; second, to collectively reaffirm commitment and adherence to the rules-based multilateral trading system; and third, to take concrete actions to promote pragmatic outcomes within the WTO system.

Representatives from the EU, Brazil, Australia, Switzerland, Pakistan, and other members called for upholding the fundamental principles of the WTO and advancing its reform, according to the CCTV News report.

The EU expressed serious concern over the erosion of the "rules-based" multilateral trading system by "power-based" trade practices.

Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and others urged the WTO Secretariat to strengthen monitoring over unilateral tariffs and related bilateral agreements, and encouraged members to proactively notify the WTO of such arrangements.

Representatives from Nigeria and Bangladesh highlighted the impact of the unilateral tariffs and uncertainties in the trade environment on vulnerable developing members, and they called on the WTO to provide necessary assistance, while delegates from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, and other countries strongly condemned the US' unilateral tariffs and coercive trade practices, according to the CCTV News report.

At a press conference on Tuesday, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said that, despite the "stiff headwinds" from the US unilateral actions and unprecedented rise in trade policy uncertainty, global trade has shown some resilience, Xinhua News Agency reported.

She stressed that such resilience underscores that "there is a core in the multilateral trading system that continues to work well."

The WTO on Tuesday raised its forecast for the growth of global goods trade this year to 2.4 percent, up from its previous projection of 0.9 percent  

Global Times