On December 15, the press conference of WTO ministerial statements on trade, environment and sustainable development was held by video. Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Commerce and deputy representative of international trade negotiations, made a video speech on the ministerial statement of informal dialogue on plastic pollution and environmental sustainability.
Wang Shouwen said that in recent years, the Chinese government has introduced a series of measures to gradually reduce, restrict and prohibit the use of disposable plastic products, and continue to strengthen the prevention and control of plastic pollution.
Wang Shouwen pointed out that China will promote multilateral discussions on plastic pollution from 2019 and launch the informal dialogue initiative on plastic pollution and environmentally sustainable plastic trade in the WTO in 2020. The number of CO sponsors of the initiative has increased from 8 when it was launched to 67 at present, including members from different regions and at different stages of development. In the future, we will strive for more members to join and promote the content of the initiative to go wider, farther and more practical. It is hoped that the WTO will focus on its own advantages, help members form more coordinated, consistent and effective trade measures, establish a link between trade, environment and development, meet current environmental challenges, and work together for global sustainable development.
The ministerial statement of the informal dialogue on plastic pollution and environmentally sustainable plastic trade aims to strengthen global efforts and international cooperation in reducing plastic pollution. In the next step, thematic discussions will be held on "how to carry out trade cooperation to reduce harmful plastic products" and "how to promote trade in goods and services that can reduce plastic pollution". The meeting also officially issued the ministerial statement on structured discussion on Trade and environmental sustainability and the ministerial statement on fossil fuel subsidies.
