Five hypotheses concerning the fate of the Singapore issues in the Doha Round

At the Cancún Ministerial Conference, the members ofthe World Trade Organization (WTO) disagreed on whether to launchnegotiations on multilateral disciplines concerning the fourareas of government policy collectively known as the ‘Singaporeissues’. This amounted to a decision not to expand theWTO's boundaries along these dimensions. In this paper, fivehypotheses concerning the treatment of the Singapore issuesby the WTO's membership are described and assessed. The implicationsof this assessment for the likelihood that, at some future date,similar proposals can be successfully advanced in the multilateraltrade arena are also discussed.     

Going beyond Cancun: Realizing the development promise of the Doha agenda

The launch of a new trade round in Doha in November 2001 was a major breakthrough following the discord in Seattle in 1999. The Doha Round is the first set of multilateral trade negotiations in which the needs and interests of developing countries have been officially declared a priority and whose conclusion deemed essential. However, the failure of the Doha negotiations in Cancun in September 2003 was a major setback. The trade talks are now stalled in several policy domains vital to developing countries such as agriculture, non‐farm trade, access to patented drugs, special and differential treatment and dispute settlement, and in areas of interest to the developed countries such as the “Singapore issues” dealing with investment, competition, trade facilitation and government procurement This paper discusses the reasons behind the failure, its wider implications as well as the policies that member governments of the World Trade Organization (WTO) will need to make to move beyond Cancun.     

Why is it so difficult? Trade liberalization under the Doha Agenda

Many explanations have been offered for the current difficultiesof the World Trade Organization (WTO). In fact, the system appearsto have managed many of these challenges reasonably well, includingthe increase in the number of members, its ‘mediaeval’decision-making procedures, the changing geopolitical environment,the rapid growth of preferential trade arrangements (PTAs),the complexity of its agreements, and concerns about erosionof unilateral preferences. By contrast, the near-exhaustionof the traditional fuel of industrial-country non-agriculturaltariffs, the increasing importance of non-trade concerns, andincomplete adjustment to a new, multi-polar negotiating systemappear to be important factors requiring further examination.     

多哈回合谈判全面中止的政治经济学分析

2006年7月持续近5年之久的世贸组织多哈回合全球贸易谈判全面中止。多哈回合谈判全面中止产生的最重要影响是打击了人们对多边贸易体系的信心，从而可能引发新一轮的区域和双边贸易自由化谈判并由此加剧贸易保护主义。从历史经验来看，多哈回合谈判中止可能仅是暂时性的，经过发达成员和发展中成员的积极努力，最终会重启并完成新一轮全球贸易谈判。     

Blue Box Policy Reform in the Doha Round Negotiations： Effects and China＇s Position

This paper uses an agricultural trade policy simulation model to quantitatively evaluate the effects of Blue Box policy reform on agricultural production and trade, and further provides specific proposals regarding China ＇ s reform position. The results indicate that, if the reform could achieve a reduction in distorting supports in more developed countries, China＇ s total agricultural production would increase, accompanied by a decrease in agricultural imports and a slight increase in exports. In terms of social welfare, producers would gain significantly, consumers would lose and government would not suffer greatly, which is in accordance with current agricultural policies in China. As a core member of G20, China should approve a subsidy level as low as possible required by Blue Box to achieve ＂substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic supports＂.     

中国参与下一阶段多合回合谈判：策略与选择

多哈回合谈判虽然处于中止状态，但面对经济全球化潮流，各方恢复谈判的可能性依然较大。本文在对中国参与下一阶段多哈回合三大部门谈判情况进行分析的基础上，试图对中国参与谈判的策略，提出一定的政策建议。     

中国参与下一阶段多哈回合谈判:策略与选择

多哈回合谈判虽然处于中止状态,但面对经济全球化潮流,各方恢复谈判的可能性依然较大。本文在对中国参与下一阶段多哈回合三大部门谈判情况进行分析的基础上,试图对中国参与谈判的策略,提出一定的政策建议。     

多边贸易下中国海外知识产权维权援助的路径

多边经贸协定下对知识产权维权援助存在援助的针对性和信息的对等性等内在需求。目前中国海外知识产权维权援助体系并不完善,在多边贸易体制下,应当构建以知识产权局为主的“集中式”援助主体系,以多边经贸协定为单元的“模块化”援助分支体系,并与社会层面建立协调联动机制。     

TPP谈判及其对中美贸易的影响

由于多哈回合停滞不前和全球贸易结构尤其是服务贸易结构趋向高级化,加上美国的强力推动,全球贸易规则不断演进,TPP谈判的影响力越来越大。TPP谈判涵盖的内容非常广泛,不仅要求开放服务业,还关注贸易背后的诸如劳工和环境标准的问题,其谈判的分歧取决于谈判各方在多大程度上接受美国的贸易规则。一旦TPP施行,美国服务贸易的优势将得到增强,并且美国贸易商将获得规则上的优势。而对于中国而言,TPP的施行将给中国出口带来负面影响,但中国可以选择深度开放、加强双边或区域经济合作以及利用上海自贸区对TPP规则进行融合等方式来应对TPP的影响。     

中国双边贸易成本变动与影响实证研究

贸易成本是阻碍全球贸易自由化的重要因素之一,也是国际贸易领域研究热点之一.文章测量了中国与主要进出口贸易对象的双边贸易成本,并尝试探讨其对双边贸易额的影响.研究发现,中国的双边贸易成本总体上呈下降态势,且双边贸易成本的下降是促进贸易额扩大的主要因素.文章还考察了多边贸易对双边贸易成本的影响,实证分析结果显示“贸易转移效应”部分存在,而中国的多边贸易对双边贸易没有产生负面影响.     

Implementation and imbalance: dealing with hangover from the Uruguay Round

The Uruguay Round agreements impose bound obligations to implement,but provide only unbound promises of assistance—is therea legal solution within the WTO legal system, i.e. can implementationassistance be made a legal obligation? The author concludesthat the Doha negotiations on trade facilitation and on aidfor trade demonstrate that such a legal arrangement cannot beconstructed. This is not, however, a problem; the internationalcommunity has provided extensive trade-related assistance throughbilateral and multilateral development agencies. Regarding theoverall Uruguay Round imbalance (developing countries gave morethan they got), failure of the international community to acknowledgethat the imbalance stems in major part from the WTO agreementon intellectual property (TRIPS) has retarded a general making-up.     

多哈回合谈判中止:矛盾焦点、发展前景及其对中国的影响

多哈谈判的中止意味着现行的多边贸易体制遭受到空前的挑战。本文在对多哈回合谈判中止的主要原因进行分析的基础上,重点就其对中国的影响展开讨论,并就未来多哈谈判前景进行预测。     

深港共建区域知识产权贸易中心的挑战和应对策略

为了发挥香港在粤港澳大湾区高质量发展中的知识产权贸易中心地位,中共中央、国务院印发《粤港澳大湾区发展规划纲要》,特别提出支持香港成为区域知识产权贸易中心。目前,香港建设区域知识产权贸易中心面临着建设目标和路径不明晰、有效支撑不足、统计体系不完善、政策不明确等挑战,亟需将深港共建区域知识产权贸易中心明确为国家级战略,完善知识产权贸易统计体系,出台支持政策,营造良好生态,合力提升国际影响力。     

Measuring Restrictiveness of Bilateral Trade Policies: A Comparison between Developed and Developing Countries

This paper compares the degree of openness to trade of three developed countries markets—the European Union, Japan, the United States—with that of three middle-income countries, namely Brazil, India, and China. A theoretically consistent protection measure—the Mercantilistic Trade Restrictiveness Index (MTRI)—is employed to average tariffs at different levels of aggregation. The computation relies on a comparative static applied general equilibrium model (Global Trade Analysis Project—GTAP) featuring imperfect competition as well as on the bilateral applied tariffs included in the most recent version of the GTAP database. Results provide a different picture from what could have been expected given the widely publicized diffusion of preferential schemes supposedly favoring developing countries exports. JEL no.  F17, C68, Q17     

闽台农产品贸易流量和潜力分析

内容以贸易引力模型为基础,结合实际情况加入解释变量建立模型,定量分析闽台农产品贸易状况。通过对模型的实证检验,得出影响闽台农产品贸易流量的主要因素有GDP总量、人均GDP、FDI,在此基础上预测了两地农产品贸易潜力,得出闽台目前存在"贸易不足",双方存在较大贸易潜力的结论,并提出相关建议。     

基于贸易引力模型的上海合作组织成员国贸易流量影响因素比较研究

就研究对象而言,国内学者使用贸易引力模型对贸易流量进行研究主要集中在两个方面：一是中国和其他国家（地区）的双边贸易流量;二是中国和世界主要经济体或自由贸易区的贸易流量。而针对中国倡导并参加的上海合作组织内各成员国的贸易流量影响因素,并就对贸易流量的影响因素进行分析的研究并不多。文章即利用贸易引力模型进行实证检验,比较上海合作组织内各成员国的主要影响因素变量的回归系数并分析其原因,最后得出相关结论。     

构建新一轮西部大开发中的大开放格局

西部大开发是我国促进区域经济均衡发展的重大决策。2010年至2030年将是西部的加速发展阶段。大开放格局的形成将是其重要特征之一。近年来,西部对外经济各项指标增速明显高于东部地区,但其对外经济总量仍偏低。本文认为较低的对外经贸依存度,一方面说明西部未来的开放大有可为,另一方面也将促进中国的经济结构趋向合理。西部大开放格局的构建,将出现城市化与工业化同步的特征,也将以更广阔的视野,在更为完善的政策制度下,探索对内对外协同开放之路。     

世界贸易新格局的形成及其对中国的影响

本文概述从世界贸易形成到21世纪世界贸易格局的变化历程,并预测21世纪世界贸易格局将演变为以区域集团鼎立为代表的新形式。2010年中国—东盟自由贸易区成立后,东亚将会加速经济一体化进程,这必将促进世界新贸易格局的加速形成,这种新变化将会为中国未来经济的发展提供新的契机。     

中国对外直接投资与对外贸易关系的实证研究——基于美国、中国香港、越南的合成数据回归分析

由于人民币升值、外汇储备飙升，更多的中国企业选择以对外直接投资的方式参与国际经济分工，对外贸易与对外直接投资的关系也变得愈加紧密和复杂。选取1996-2006年中国对美国、中国香港、越南的FDI流量，进、出口量做合成数据回归分析，结果表明：中国对外直接投资与对外贸易的关系在空间上存在不同，二者关系以及关系强弱因东道国（地区）经济发展水平不同而不同。最后，提出了有关的对策建议。     

Preference erosion and market access liberalization: the African dilemma in multilateral negotiations on agriculture

African countries, especially sub-Saharan ones, have conflicting interests in multilateral negotiations on agriculture. On the one hand, their economies may be boosted by the price effect induced by agricultural liberalization. On the other hand, multilateral tariff cuts will result in the erosion of preferential margins. Based on an original methodology, using CGE modeling, detailed tariff calculations and predictive analysis, this paper investigates the potential impact of current multilateral negotiations on the value of preferences for African agriculture. It estimates the preferential value to USD 0.7 billion of welfare and USD 1 billion of exports to the Triad markets. Furthermore, it highlights the “cruel dilemma” African countries face in current negotiations, as they gain from ambitious trade liberalization, despite the large preferential erosion, while they suffer from noticeable trade and welfare losses under conservative scenarios.