Photo taken on July 15, 2020 shows the exterior view of the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

WTO reform should benefit all members and protect the interest of developing members, China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said at the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Chinanews.com reported on Monday.

Wang added reform should promote economic globalization and promote the development of economic globalization in the direction of more openness, inclusiveness, universal benefit and balance through the updating of rules and mechanism guarantees.

China would like to work with all parties to promote the MC12 to achieve results in the fields of pandemic response and food security, and help the WTO play a greater role in the recovery of the world economy, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said

China would like to work with all parties to promote the MC12 to achieve results in the fields of pandemic response and food security, and help the WTO play a greater role in the recovery of the world economy, he said, noting the country is an important contributor to international anti-pandemic cooperation and has provided more than 2.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations.

China supports the early WTO consensus on intellectual property exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines and is willing to make contributions to this end, Wang added.

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The fundamentals of China's economy — strong resilience, ample potential and long-term improvement — have not changed, and the country is accelerating the construction of a new development pattern and unswervingly promoting high-level opening up, which will surely bring more market, growth and cooperation opportunities to the world.

The conference is being co-hosted by the WTO and Kazakhstan and being held in Geneva from June 12 to 15. Ministers and representatives of 164 WTO members attended the meeting in-person.

During the four-day meeting, members of the trade organization will hold discussions on such issues as TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) waiver for COVID-19 vaccines, pandemic response, fishery subsidies, agriculture, food security, as well as the WTO's reform and its future work priorities.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said that the world is currently facing multiple crises such as the epidemic, food shortage, climate change and regional conflicts, and she called on all parties to work together to overcome the difficulties.

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"No one country can solve these crises on its own, this is a time that you need the world to work together," she said.

According to her, the work of the WTO has made progress, and draft documents have been formed on key issues such as TRIPS waiver, pandemic response, fishery subsidies, agriculture and food security. She hoped that more results could be achieved at the ministerial meeting.

With Xinhua inputs