The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development covers 17 goals, the tenth of which is "Reduced inequalities", namely: Reduce inequality within and among countries. 

Under this major goal, there are ten targets, the eighth of which is "Implement the principle of special and differential treatment for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, in accordance with World Trade Organization agreements".

● Current Situation

About the World

Protect Interests of WTO Members

Special and differential treatment is a preferential treatment granted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to developing country members, and it is also an important principle of WTO. According to the statistics of the WTO Secretariat, there are 155 articles on special and differential treatment in the current WTO agreement, covering six aspects: increasing trade opportunities, safeguarding the interests of members, safeguarding policy space, transition period, technical assistance and special flexibility for the least developed countries.

Text source: gmw.cn

About China

The World's Largest Developing Country

China's economic and social development has made great progress, but the problem of unbalanced and insufficient development remains prominent. China's international status as the world's largest developing country has not changed. Since China's accession to the WTO, its foreign trade and imports from developing countries have increased, which has made a great contribution to other developing countries and least developed countries.

Text source: china.com.cn

●  Cases

About the World

WTO Aid for Trade Initiative

Aid for Trade helps developing countries, and particularly least developed countries, trade. Many developing countries face a range of supply-side and trade-related infrastructure obstacles which constrains their ability to engage in international trade.

The WTO-led Aid-for-Trade Initiative encourages developing country governments and donors to recognize the role that trade can play in development. In particular, the initiative seeks to mobilize resources to address the trade-related constraints identified by developing and least-developed countries.

Activities under the Aid-for-Trade initiative are carried out on the basis of a biennial work programme. A new Aid-for-Trade Work Programme for 2020-2022 was issued on 11 February 2020. Under the theme of "Empowering Connected, Sustainable Trade", the Programme seeks to develop analysis on the opportunities that digital connectivity and sustainability offer for economic and export diversification - and how Aid for Trade can help empower different economic actors realize these opportunities. Aid for Trade can contribute towards the latter objective by addressing supply-side capacity and trade-related constraints that exist, notably among LDCs. The Work Programme will also seek to add value by analyzing how current industrialization and economic growth objectives interact with those on sustainability and responsible production, approaches which can be collectively termed "green growth", with a particular emphasis on women, youth and MSMEs. A further point for consideration is the nexus between green growth and digital connectivity itself, how these trends promote inclusive growth, in particular for LDCs – and how Aid for Trade can empower different actors to realize the opportunities created.

Text source: wto.org

About China 

Shenzhen Medical Device Industry in Global Competition

Shenzhen is an important production and export base of large-scale precision medical devices and medical electronic instruments in China. The medical device industry takes a leading position in China in terms of technical organization advantages and industrial scale. Medical devices are products closely related to life and health, and the demand for medical devices is increasing all over the world. Under the background of economic globalization, the export of medical monitoring and ultrasonic equipment in Shenzhen has been increasing rapidly.

However, the complicated world trade situation and the stagnation of WTO reform have put great pressure on the international trade environment and buried many uncertain factors. In this context, Shenzhen Institute of standards and technology has effectively helped enterprises' products go abroad and participate in global competition by carrying out research on trade in major export markets, so as to further consolidate and expand the share of medical device products in the international market, establish Shenzhen's strong position as a medical device manufacturing region in the world, and ensure the sustainable and healthy development of the industry.

Text source: sist.org.cn

●  Background

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Initiated by the United Nations

On 1 January, 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including 169 targets, of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force. Countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.