China Welcomes Nigeria's WTO Director-General Appointment

China Supports Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Instead of Yoo Myung-hee
China's Ministry of Commerce Expects Swift Restoration of WTO Functions

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (66) was officially elected as the new head of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and China is expressing delight. China has supported Okonjo-Iweala instead of Yu Myung-hee, head of the Trade Negotiations Department at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

China's Ministry of Commerce announced on the 16th, "China congratulates Dr. Okonjo-Iweala on her election as WTO Director-General." The ministry added, "Currently, the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, and the multilateral trading system faces significant challenges," and expressed, "China expects her to quickly restore the normal functions of the WTO and play a major role in epidemic prevention cooperation and economic recovery."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Commerce emphasized, "This year marks the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the WTO," and stated, "China firmly supports the multilateral trading system, actively participates in WTO reform, and will support the new Director-General's work through concrete actions."

The WTO China Mission also stated in a statement the previous day, "The WTO is facing a critical moment," and evaluated, "The decision of all member countries shows not only support for Dr. Okonjo-Iweala but also reflects China's vision and expectations, as well as trust in the multilateral trading system."

China has made significant investments in Africa and has been putting considerable effort into this. Therefore, there is an expectation that having an African as the WTO Director-General will allow China to leverage substantial influence over Africa.

Also, with the election of the new WTO Director-General as China wished, it is expected to have a considerable impact on the US-China trade conflict. The WTO ruled in favor of China in the tariff dispute between the US and China last September.

In response, former US President Donald Trump claimed that the WTO is biased toward China and fails to restrain China's unfair trade practices. On the other hand, China has argued that the US is enforcing unilateralism and has advocated for protecting multilateral systems like the WTO.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.