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Coming up, leader of the Kuomintang Party will pay a visit to the Chinese mainland in April.
Pakistan hosts foreign nation bid to encourage the United States and Iran towards diplomacy.
China's industrial profits accelerated at the start of 2026.
And World Trade Organization trade talks ended with no deal to extend e-commerce tariff ban.
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First up, the Communist Party of China Central Committee and General Secretary Xi Jinping have invited chairperson of the Chinese Kuomintang Party to pay a visit to the Chinese mainland next month.
A CPC official says Chen Liwen has expressed the desire to visit the Chinese mainland multiple times since she took office in November.
Song Tao, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee, says Chen and her delegation will visit Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing from April 7 to 12.
And, on her part, Chen Liwen has accepted the Chinese mainland's invitation, expressing her hope that both parties will work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait ties.
She also called for enhancing exchange and cooperation, contributing to peace in the Taiwan Strait and improving the well-being of the people.
So for more.
Joining us now on the line is Dr Xiaoyu Qing, Director of the Institute for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau Studies, with the Shanghai Institute for International Studies.
So thank you very much for joining us today, Dr. Xiao Yuching.
First of all, why do you think Chen Liwen has expressed the desire to visit the Chinese mainland multiple times since she took office?
And what expectations should we have for her upcoming trip?
I think, as the new chairwoman of KMT, Zheng Liwen has several priorities to strengthen her position and also to strengthen the party's position in the Taiwan domestic politics.
And the first thing is under her leadership, the KMT should be tough enough to be the opposition party in Taiwan, because right now the DPP authorities policy, not only towards the mainland, but also the international relations and also its well-being policy, the economic policies, the social welfare policies on the island, have been criticized by a lot of Taiwan people.
So KMT as the major opposition party.
I think Chen Liwen has her own view and idea about how to be a strong and tough opposition party.
And also, I think she has her own view regarding the future direction of KMT and also KMT's policy towards the Chinese mainland and also the cross-strait relations.
So that's why she has repeatedly said that she would like to visit the Chinese mainland and try to improve the cross-strait relations.
And I think her visit to the Chinese mainland at least can promote the people-to-people exchanges between the two sides across the strait, because the KMT recognized the 1992 consensus.
So it's easy for the two sides, the KMT, to lead the people-to-people exchanges between the two sides.
And also the previous KMT and the CPC forum actually has already focused on those functional issues between the two sides, like AI development, like clean energy, like tourism all those issues.
So I think under the leadership of KMT actually the two sides can have functional cooperation and coordination on those issues.
It's important that you talk about the 1992 consensus.
So what do you think is the key to the CPC and the KMT working together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait ties?
I think there are at least two things.
First thing is, just like you said, that the political basis, the political foundation for CPC-KMT's cooperation, which is the 1992 consensus, is the most important thing here.
And the second is the unified KMT.
I think is also important for KMT to push the cooperation with CPC.
Because right now we have at least I have sensed there are some different views within KMT regarding its relationship with the Chinese mainland and also KMT's cooperation with CPC.
So I think whether under Zhengli Wen's leadership, this kind of different forces within KMT can got certain consensus regarding its relationship with CPC, I think is also very important.
The announcement of Chen Liyuan's trip to the Chinese mainland comes at a time when Taiwan's Lai Qingde and his DPP authorities are trying to get the island's regional legislative body to approve an extra US40 billion defense spending.
The KMT is now holding majority in the legislature.
So what do we know about the stance of the KMT on this particular issue?
I think Zhongli Wen has been very clear that she thinks that the peaceful cross-strait relations does not depend on the so-called arms sales from the United States.
But I think that within the legislative body, those PMT members, they have different views so far.
Some support kind of a bigger spending defense spending and some support kind of a smaller spending.
So there are different versions.
Right now I think.
But overall I think KMT's view is that the DPP, the version that DPP has been pushing, is too big and it will cost.
It would have a lot of negative economic cost on the Taiwanese society and would have very negative impact on the people's daily lives.
So I think right now the challenge for Zheng Liwen is whether she can show her strong leadership to have a unified KMT, to play a strong role in the legislative body.
That's why you said earlier that KMT unity, or in terms of sending a unified message to the outside world, is very, very important.
So the Chinese mainland has made it quite clear that over the next five years, during the Chinese mainland's 15th five-year plan, it will, on one hand, promote cooperation and exchanges with Taiwan, while on the other hand, firmly crack down upon Taiwan independence, separate the forces and oppose external interference on the Taiwan question.
Do you believe the efforts in those two directions that I have mentioned will go hand in hand with each other smoothly, and what role or what roles can the KMT play in this process?
I think definitely the two hands that you mentioned for the Chinese mainland, the 15th five-year plan.
We will continue this policy.
And for the past several years, actually, the Chinese mainland have already adopted this policy.
And so far, I think it's very effective.
For example on the anti-Taiwan independence, counter-Taiwan independence and also the extra interference side of the policy.
Our PLA's military exercises and actions in the Taiwan Strait have already played a very strong role in deterring those forces.
And also the integrated development between the two sides across the strait.
The policy have already pushed improved coordination and cooperation and also exchanges between the two societies, between the two sides across the strait.
So I think so far we have already seen the policy has been successful.
And so there's no reason that we would not to continue this policy.
So in this process, I think KMT can play a very important role.
First of all, the KMT should strengthen its position adhering to the 1992 consensus, because there are some people within the KMT their view is that these days the 92 consensus is irrelevant and it's not in the interest of KMT.
So let's forget about that.
I think this kind of view is very wrong.
So this is the most important thing and the most important role that KMT can play.
And secondly, just like I said previously, on all those functional issues, I think that KMT has a lot of talents. like economic feud, like energy feud, like engineering feud, a lot of talents are within KMT and also within the blue camp.
So KMT can play the leading role to coordinate these functional issues.
Cooperation with the Chinese mainland um uh, if us president donald trump um really visits china later this year, will taiwan be a key talking point, will be a key issue for discussion between china and the united states?
Uh, definitely.
Uh, if president trump uh will visit Beijing in the middle of May or any time later.
I think for sure the Chinese government and our president will raise the Taiwan question on the table and we will reiterate our policy towards Taiwan and also the one China principle, and would warn the US side, the Trump administration, to be very cautious on its policy.
Of course, first of all it should adhere to the one China policy.
And at the same time I think the US side should be very cautious on the arms sales to Taiwan and also the interference into the domestic politics in Taiwan.
Yeah.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Dr Shao Yuching, Director of the Institute for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau Studies.
Shanghai Institute for International Studies.
Coming up, Pakistan hosts foreign nation bitch encourage the US and Iran towards diplomacy.
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Pakistan says it's ready to facilitate peace talks between the United States and Iran in the coming days.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar made the announcement following a meeting with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt in Islamabad.
The four nations have agreed to form a joint ministerial-level committee to push for a negotiated settlement.
Meanwhile, Iran has agreed to let 20 additional Pakistani ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a step that Dar called a meaningful gesture towards peace.
For more on this.
My colleague Xue Wen spoke with Dr Wen Jing, research fellow with the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University.
Dr Wen.
Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, has said that both the US and Iran have expressed confidence in Pakistan's mediation.
What does this confidence mean for the prospects of direct US-Iran talks in Islamabad in the coming days?
Absolutely.
As we all know, Pakistan right now is acting as the mediator.
Its influence or its confidence or have this mediation progress is very important.
And the second thing I want to say right now.
I mean, the war has continued or lasted more than four weeks.
Not only US, but also Iran, I think they are all thinking to have a deal.
From US side.
I think right now he has faced many pressure, not only from the domestic issues but also from the like the oil, the economy pressure.
So us has the desire to get a deal and for iran, i think iran also hope to get a deal with the us because, as we all know, right now iran has many economic inflation in the country, so They cannot just have this war for a very long time.
So I think right now both sides have a thinking to get a deal.
We know, over the weekend Pakistan Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia held a four-nation foreign ministers meeting in Islamabad and agreed to form a committee to negotiate a settlement.
So how can this committee help bridge the gap between the conflicting ceasefire demands of the US and Iran, given that key parties like the US and Israel are not participating?
Yes, I think for normal people.
I mean for our understanding.
Maybe all participants, like I mean the war participants, should attend this conference.
But you know, in Middle East it's very special, like the mediation which US did during the Gaza conflict.
We can see that Israel and Palestine both sides do not attend the meeting as well.
But I still have some confidence on these four countries' foreign ministers' meeting.
Why?
Because I think these four countries really make sense.
Like for Pakistan, I think most of the audience will think, why is Pakistan making this mediation?
Pakistan, actually, is not a regional country.
I mean, it's not a military country, but do you know?
Pakistan has a military deal with Saudi Arabia last year.
And also Pakistan has a good relationship with Iran as well.
And also Turkey is a very important country player in the region.
And Egypt is a traditional Arab leader country.
So I think Egypt really can make some sense.
And also Saudi Arabia, we can see Saudi Arabia is very powerful.
I mean, not only economy, but also in Islamic world.
So I think these four countries are really very important countries.
So the discussion or the meeting or their mediation efforts will make sense.
We know, the US has sent a 15-point ceasefire proposal to Iran via Pakistan, which Tehran has rejected as extreme and unreasonable.
In the meantime, Iranian parliament speaker accused the U.S. of sending mixed signals.
It says that the US publicly signaling openness to talks while secretly planning a ground invasion with the 15-point ceasefire proposal as an attempt to force Iran's surrender.
So is the US truly serious about negotiations in Islamabad, or is this diplomatic outreach a cover for preparing a ground military operation?
What's your take?
I think for my understanding, US want to get a deal, but for other side it has not so much, I mean, how to say, just trying to know the bottom of Iran.
Just you mentioned that US just put up several goals right, like the nuclear facilities and also the missile facilities and also the control of the street of hamas.
I think for iran this, this sentiments, are very hard to be accepted by iran And as we all know, the war has entered the fifth week and Iran has known very clearly that he has a very strong control on the street of hummus, so he really have some how to say he he can really play a very important role in this war.
So i think for iran, he will not accept this principles which put up by us.
But i still think These two sides they are having a strategic arguing.
They want to know the partner of the other side.
So it's still a bargaining right now, I think.
I mean, if the US really wants to have a deal with Iran, why is sending more troops to the Middle East?
I really want to say it's a tactical method.
It's a tactical method.
He wants to have some pressure on Iran and they think that if they have more troops and more weapons which delivered to this region, Iran will feel that they are very dangerous.
So I think the U.S. is still using the carrot, the carrot .
You mean a policy of steak and carrot?
Yes, this method to get like Iran to just to say, yes, we want to have a deal with you.
So maybe we can sit together and to discuss this issue.
So I think US is just putting these two players in a very stressful situation to let Iran to accept its principles or to accept its is ways to end this war.
Dr. Wen, let's zoom in to another important issue here, the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has agreed to allow 20 more ships under the Pakistani flag to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Is this a goodwill gesture toward Pakistan's mediation efforts or a technical move amid ongoing tensions?
And also, does this mean that we're going to see more ships will be allowed to pass through the Hormuz Strait in the coming days, as long as they're from, according to Wang, non-hostile nations?
I just wanted to have one point in that.
The key to closing the street doesn't lie in whether Iran has I mean before US is trying its way to destroy Iran's Iranian navy right.
But I do not think this is a good way to destroy the ability of Iran's ability to protect, to control the street.
Because right now, Iran has the ability to sustain attacks and create a high-risk environment in the streets of Homs.
So under the circumstances of this continuous military conflict, I think Iran's regular levy is damaged, but we can see the commercial shipping still face very strong security risks right,
So I think right now this means that controlling the streets is more than the ability to manage risk, rather than the traditional maritime superiority.
I mean, right now, Iran has a very, how to say, good control of the street.
So Iran is rarely can decide the way ahead.
So this is my take.
And lastly Doctor, we know Israel has continued its military operations against Iran and distanced itself from US-led peace talks.
In your view, how is Israel's stance impacting Pakistan's mediation efforts and the broader regional peace process?
I think for my understanding why Israel has a different reaction compared with the US, the reason that Israel has a very different purpose or we see different results.
I mean the focus is different from US.
For US, the main idea or main aim to start this war is to strike the missiles facility and the nuclear facilities in iran.
Us do not want iran have the nuclear weapon.
This is the first one.
And secondly, the region change.
So this is the main purpose of of us, but do you know for you, for israel, they have some different purpose.
The main concern for Israel is that they think that Iran has a proxy in the region.
They have Houthis, they have Leblon, they have the many players in the region.
So Israel want to start this war to get Iran lost this kind of privacy players in the region.
So we can see right now Israel is acting different from US.
I think Israel want to lost this war as long as possible, because he wants Iran will be totally how to say?
Undermined during this war.
So Israel is acting different from the U.S.
This is my take.
That was Dr Wen Jing, Research Fellow of the Center for International Security and Strategy with Tsinghua University.
Talking with my colleague Xu Yaowen.
You're listening to World Today.
I'm Ding Han in Beijing.
We'll be back after a very short break.
You're back with World Today, I'm Ding Hen in Beijing.
China's industrial sector is off to a strong start this year, signaling renewed momentum in the broader economy.
Profits at major industrial firms rose by 152 year-on-year in the first two months, a sharp acceleration from the 06 growth recorded for the whole of last year.
The rebound is being led by key growth engines.
Profits in equipment manufacturing climbed by around 24, while high-tech manufacturing surged by impressive 59.
China's economy started this year on a firm footing, with a surge in imports and exports and a rebound in retail sales and investment.
So for more on this, my colleague Zhao Yang spoke with Dr Zhou Mi, Senior Research Fellow with Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Dr. Zhou Mi, thank you very much for joining us.
First of all, what is really driving the sharp rise in industrial profits in the first two months?
And how sustainable is this growth momentum for the rest of the year?
Yeah, in my understanding that you know the companies, when they are going to have the profits, they are decided by the, the differences between the cost and also the revenues.
So for the companies in China.
They benefit from a sharp rise in the first two months of this year, depending on the two sides.
First of all, is that they are able to sell more things.
I think that is reflecting that the market is getting stronger, the companies or consumers, they are able or they want to buy more things.
So they have a pretty you know some of their sales, much more than they can expect for the last year.
Well.
The second is about many Chinese companies, especially the enterprises in the manufacturing.
They really want to introduce more technology or innovation elements in the sales.
So they are able to have a better value added for the sales.
And if you combine these two things of the sales itself and also the value added of these sales, they can have a better profit.
If you're looking at sustainability, I think that, in my understanding that the sustainability of these profits can be expected in this year.
And that is because the China's consumption market is getting stronger and we are also benefiting from the actions with our trading partners.
So in this regard, the companies can benefit from the sales in the domestic market, while also in the foreign markets.
And with equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing emerging as key growth drivers.
What does this reveal about the evolving structure of China's economy?
And how is China's expanding footprint in these industries reshaping the global supply chain?
Well, China is definitely one of the traditional manufacturers in the world were able to have a lot of products to the foreign market.
But I think that in the recent years, China's solution has been improved.
So we are not just to provide some of these products like the final products.
We are able to provide more equipment.
And this equipment can be integrated in the supply chains, the global supply chains, and in the industrial chains.
And these equipments can be used for, you know, supporting other countries' industrializations or abilities to supply with sustainable supply in these global supply chains.
So I think that these functions are really playing more and more important, like for the, the new energy vehicles of some of the machineries for dealing with the agricultural products.
So China's footprint of these equipments are really beneficiary for our trading partners.
They are able to deal with their products in a more efficient way.
And in this way, they are able to improve their status in the global value chains.
So I would say the performance of China's equipment and the high tech manufacturing are really supporting our trading partners to reach their goals.
And also take a look at other economic data.
Retail sales grew by 2.8% in the first two months.
So what does this 2.8% increase mean for China's economy?
And what is driving this growth?
Well, maybe the 28 is not that much compared with industrial output or export, but it is not that easy because we know that China's consumption is one of our very potential areas but hasn't been so strong like the investment and export.
I think that is, you know, a reflection also about the efforts of the government together with enterprises.
For the first two months, we are, you know, in the vacations of the Spring Festival.
And also, you know, a lot of input are are used to encourage the consumption.
The retails.
If we are able to make it stable and even grow faster, we are able to try to have a better and more strong development momentum.
So the domestic consumption is one of our priorities, like you can find from the government report this year.
And I will see that it is always what we want to strengthen in the next five years.
So the people are able to buy more things.
But the problem is that whether we can provide them with enough good things and also trying to make this mechanism more sustainable by have a better life cycle of those products and services.
And speaking of consumption behavior, what are some of the new consumption trends do you find?
The first trend I noticed that is about the services services conceptions.
Many people are entering the cinemas to watch films and some of them are going to other cities for the tourism and they also enjoy the many digital services to do with the some of the entertainment methods, like the songs and the different things.
Well, another one of the service conceptions is about AI.
Many people are really trying to use these AI applications.
They pay them and they get some of this outcome of this artificial intelligence models.
So this is one factor.
And another one, I think that there are more consumption to do with some of this knowledge.
So the people are going to buy more products to do with, you know, the artificial intelligence, some of this internet-related equipment.
So I think that the people are really enjoying that.
And the companies of the robots, they're really providing many choices.
So these choices are attracting some families to buy it, to try it.
Maybe it's not so popular, but I think that is really giving some very good basis for the companies to have a better development.
And China has also rolled out a green consumption action plan.
So tell us more details about that.
Is it mainly about cutting emissions or are they also about boosting consumption?
I think that's both.
For the green development, it's one of our priorities, like you can find from China's strategy.
And I think that new development strategies also cover the green aspects.
For us, we want to fulfill our commitments to global climate change action.
I think that is mean that we have to do more to reduce the carbon emissions in the daily lives, like transportations or even the ways of producing the products.
So this is definitely what we really want to encourage people to use more products which has less carbon emission.
But at a second time.
I think that we need to transfer from the traditional ways into a better way, into a new way.
And that will create our additional market for the suppliers.
So if we are able to encourage the people to use the products with a better characteristic about the green consumption, I think that's definitely will beneficially for the consumption itself.
So, no matter from the demand side or the supply side, if we are able to transfer people's habits or intentions of using the products to a greener one, I think that is definitely good for all of the related stakeholders.
Dr Zhou Mi, Senior Research Fellow with Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Speaking with my colleague Zhao Yang.
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A new report has ranked China at the 9th spot in the world in terms of innovation capability.
China has scored 672 points in the National Innovation Index Report 2025 issued by the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development.
It marks improvement from the country's 10th-place position in the same ranking a year earlier.
The top three countries in this year's ranking are the United States, Switzerland, and Sweden.
The report says China's innovation capabilities are close to that of developed countries, with a per capita GDP of US50000.
So for more, joining us.
Now on the line is Dr Yao Shujie Chang Kong, Professor of Economics, West Chongqing University.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Hi, you're welcome.
So in this particular ranking, China was actually at the 20th place back in 2012.
Now China is basically the only middle-income economy that has made entry into the global top 10.
Is China's ranking, including China's improvement in the ranking over the years, in line with your general perception about what's going on?
Yes, indeed.
China has put a lot of investment into RD, uh research and development and also articulating a very sophisticated uh national and regional system for research and development.
In particular, uh.
You know the the the zero to one breakthrough in terms of uh, artificial intelligence, digital economy and also high level manufacturing.
In addition to that, China has the most sophisticated industrial system, which provides a very fertile soil for the application of all the new technology and technological transfer from the laboratory to the actual industrial production system.
And because China is a big country, it has not only the investment, but also there's a huge pool of talents.
There are two major advantages of the Chinese research and development sector.
The major advantage is the scope of technological innovation and application.
And the second advantage is the intensive catch-on process of national policy from the National Research System of the Chinese Academy of Sciences In all parts of the country.
They have intensified the innovation to improve the technological and economic development throughout the country so that China could win the international competitive advantage not only in terms of international trade but in terms of domestic trade.
Strong economic circulation and the general improvement of people's likelihood also have a very strong push force in driving the electricity and technology into a very higher level.
And the progress of almost every year China move one position, or every other year China move up one position, is highly impressive.
And this impressiveness of the technological innovation is not only coming from the quantity of investment, but also the quality or the efficiency of investment organization in the country.
Now, in terms of sub indicators, the report says China is actually doing very, very well in a globally leading position in the scale of STEM education, the number of scientists with high citation rates, the number of top ranking universities, as well as say, corporate-level innovation, like the number of faster-growing startups, like especially Unicorns.
Why do you think this is the case, Professor?
Yes, as I say, it is a highly comprehensive and concerted effort for the national and regional governments.
China has three major forces of driving technological progress.
The first major force is the country, the national government.
The second force is the research innovation institutions, such as the university, which produce more and more high-level publication in the STEM area.
And the third area is the education.
China probably has the highest number of education in terms of engineering, in terms of all the major STEM subjects.
This provides a very good talent pool for driving research and innovation throughout the, not only the multinational company, but also the research-oriented universities and institutions.
But in the meantime, when we talk about the efficiency of turning highly cited papers into commercial results and labor productivity in terms of the in the field of high tech manufacturing and finance for those faster growing tech startups today,
Professor, the report says there is still a huge room for China to make some further improvement in some of the indexes, sub-indexes.
China's ranking is at 40 something globally.
What is your take on this?
Yes, I mean as I say, China is a big country and there's unbalanced development in different sectors, but there's also unbalanced development in different scientific innovation indices.
For example, like the transformation from publication, from the laboratory, to the real industrial production system,
Because China is moving so fast, so some of the research and innovation, knowledge or patents, they take some time to penetrate into the industrial sector.
So it's not a very surprising shortage or shortcoming of the system.
But you can turn this into a positive aspect, because there is still a huge scope for the Chinese system to apply this kind of available technology and know-how to the industrial and agricultural and service sector.
And once this knowledge is transferred, then there will be commercial utilization of these patents and also technology.
And then you can generate profit, and the profit can plow back into the basic research.
And this is the concept of circulation in the scientific circle that the national government and regional government is about to promote.
Of course, there are lots of different strategies of how to improve these kinds of technological innovation, efficiency and application to the real industry.
Now, actually, the United States has topped this particular ranking since the year 2013.
R&D spending in North America accounts for over 40% of the global total, according to this report.
So do you think, Professor Yao, politically speaking, Washington should actually be less worried and less anxious about China in the realm of tech innovation?
I don't think the US could take a fairly relaxed attitude towards China.
I think the US is certainly seeing China as a major competitor, not only in terms of the economy's strengths, but also in the technological and innovation strengths.
And China is emerging so powerfully And the investment and also the you know the talents is certainly major challenges for the United States.
But I hope that these kinds of challenges could become a mutual you know beneficial competition and also cooperation.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Yao Shujie, Chang Kong Professor of Economics with Chongqing University.
Coming up, World Trade Organization talks ended with no deal to extend e-commerce tariff ban.
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Hello, I am Dr Digby James Wren, a political analyst and international relations scholar specializing in China area studies.
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World Trade Organization members have concluded their meeting in Cameroon without a deal to extend a moratorium on e-commerce duties.
The talks regarding the extension will continue in Geneva, as the US and Brazil remain deadlocked over this issue.
The talks held in Cameroon made progress on drafting a plan for broader reforms of this multilateral trading organization, but agreements are still pending.
So joining us now on the line is Professor Liu Baocheng from the University of International Business and Economics.
Thank you very much for joining us, Professor.
Thank you.
So, first of all, why do you think the Brazilian side blocked a bid by the United States and some other countries to secure an extension to a moratorium on e-commerce duties?
I guess we are talking about duties or tariffs on some transaction on e-commerce, such as say, digital downloads, etc.
What could be the concern on the part of the Brazilian side?
I think to give our listeners a background is that Since 1998, under the WTO arrangement, members have already agreed not to impose custom tariffs on electronic transformation.
As you mentioned, software downloads streaming, digital content, etc.
The moratorium was designed as a temporary, renewable commitment, so every extension is effectively a new political decision, not a automatic continuation.
So therefore any member could have the legitimate right to block such sort of extension.
The consideration on the Brazil side reflects a broader concern among many other developing economies about the policy space and fiscal sovereignty with regard to the regulation of e-commerce.
So first the moratorium.
It is beneficial for digital trade at large, but it does not really mean that every country can really benefit, at least in proportion to that.
So for countries like Brazil, especially during the digitization process, they they may turn out to be having less space if they really commit to the continuation of such a moratorium.
Because this is dominated by more advanced economies.
For example, in the United States the Silicon Valley, You know, commands a large tech firms that can really enjoy far more privilege for the zero tariff type of arrangement.
So they may feel a sense of deprivation, you know, in their voice and also in their economic benefit.
I guess for the World Trade Organization, getting a deal on this e-commerce moratorium is widely seen as key to securing political support from Washington.
So are you optimistic that Brazil and the United States could ultimately reach some sort of deal on this issue?
Well, this is a continuation of discussion.
For now, any type of reform for the WTO.
With 164 members it's very difficult, particularly for big economies like the United States and Brazil.
I would broadly say it's still optimistic, but with caution.
It cannot really immediately go for automatic renew, but there could be certain type of negotiation, because the US prioritized certainty and continuity for global digital trade, while Brazil is seeking more flexibility and, more importantly, fairness.
So there could be some sort of reconciliation and compromise can really emerge in a format of time-bound extension rather than an indefinite, And it could be a negotiation on a portion of digital taxation on the development support, or the US can really offer some sort of aid in capacity building.
In other words, the progress is likely if the discussion shifts from a binary type of extension to a package deal that may address the development concern by the Brazil side.
With regard to the broader reforms of the World Trade Organization.
According to diplomats and some politicians, a new draft of reform roadmap providing a timeline for progress and setting out the key issues to address was actually very much close to being agreed to during the talks held in Cameroon.
And those key issues include improving decision-making in a consensus-based system and trade benefits more broadly being extended to developing countries.
How does the prospect of these reform efforts look like to you, Professor?
Well, these are, in principle, highly acceptable by all members because by making the system faster and fit for the new development, particularly in the digital era.
And now every country is facing a painstaking picture where the fragmentation of global economy can really damage the robustness of international exchange in goods and services.
But the most outstanding issue is how to determine and define fairness.
Because they are More developing countries really want to have more of the sovereignty and also their independent decision making and so that they will feel not really being extracted out of a consensus type of a global rule.
But those more advanced economies, they really require more of the efficiency.
So you know, to reach a consensus is really a very time consuming process, but the direction is really very clear.
And now the again what type of compromise can be made to really to harness this type of diverging expectations about fairness, flexibility and also the affordable obligations by those members?
So the roadmap is an important step, but the real test will be whether the members can really translate into concrete and enforceable outcome and particularly with regard to the appellate type of operation which has been paralyzed for the last more than seven years.
So how to restore that and provide efficient and fair result.
So that's something that remains to be seen and to be negotiated with a more constructive approach.
Professor, we still have about half a minute before we need to let you go.
So briefly, the talks, this time in Cameroon, were largely seen as a test for the WTO's relevance after a year of trade turmoil and the ongoing disruption due to the ongoing war in the Middle East.
So overall, how would you make of the results of this test?
I think, despite of all the fragmentation and geopolitical tensions going on, the mechanism of dynamics for global collaboration are still there and also getting stronger.
So therefore members, whether they are able to see a larger picture and long-term development by engaging with each other on the rule-based collaboration.
So this is quite a test, whether WTO reform can really move forward, especially in certain sectors.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Professor Liu Baocheng joining us from the University of International Business and Economics.
That's all the time for this edition of World Today.
I'm Dinghan in Beijing.
Thank you so much for listening.
Bye for now.
