On June 3, the WTO Mini-Ministerial Meeting was held in Paris, France. The meeting was attended by ministers or representatives from more than 20 WTO members, including China, the U.S., the EU, Australia, Brazil, and the UK, as well as WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Li Chenggang, China International Trade Representative and Vice Minister of Commerce, attended the meeting and delivered remarks. Ambassador Li Yongjie, Permanent Representative of China to the WTO, was also present.

Li Chenggang stated that the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) Meeting, hosted by China last month, successfully issued the 2026 APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Joint Statement, or the Suzhou Statement, in which parties reached consensus on the necessity of WTO reform and on working together to improve the WTO. This demonstrates not only APEC’s strong support for the WTO’s work but also shows that, given the diversity of its members, constructively seeking the greatest common denominator is key to reaching consensus. Under the current circumstances, members should explore more flexible and inclusive decision-making approaches, allowing initiatives that align with the interests of the majority of members to advance within the WTO framework through plurilateral arrangements.

Li noted that development should be placed at the center of reform, and multilateral rules should be better utilized to promote development through trade. Examples include promoting industrialization through the integration of trade and investment, and strengthening policy coordination in emerging areas such as the digital economy and green economy. China supports discussions on level playing field, including disciplines on market-distorting subsidies and policy transparency, to strengthen multilateral disciplines and enhance policy coordination. China also supports reaching a multilateral consensus on the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions as soon as possible.

Participants generally supported substantively advancing the WTO reform on the basis of the consensus and progress made at the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14), and enhancing the WTO’s ability to address current trade challenges. They emphasized that, while upholding the principle of consensus-based decision-making, innovative approaches should be explored to update and develop rules, making multilateral rules more effective and inclusive.

During the Mini-Ministerial Meeting, Li Chenggang met with ministers from the EU, the UK, Switzerland, and also with WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann. Li Chenggang also held brief exchanges with ministers or representatives from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, the U.S., India, the Gambia, Samoa, and Norway, discussing WTO-related work and bilateral trade and economic issues. (Released on June 4)