On September 5, the opening ceremony of the Ministerial Workshop on WTO Investment Facilitation was held in Beijing. Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative Ling Ji attended and addressed the event. The workshop brought together 23 ministerial and DG-level officials from 18 developing WTO members.

Ling stated that since its accession to the WTO, China has consistently upheld true multilateralism, actively participated in global economic governance, continuously advanced high-standard opening up, and enhanced investment facilitation. The Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) is the first agreement proposed and led by China within the WTO, and the world’s first multilateral investment agreement. Participants of this workshop will have the opportunity to experience firsthand China’s practices in investment facilitation and jointly promote the early incorporation of the agreement into the WTO legal framework, thus upholding the multilateral trading system with concrete actions.

Representatives of the participants expressed gratitude to China organizer for hosting the workshop and providing a valuable platform for exchange. They agreed that the IFDA, as a pragmatic outcome, would benefit developing countries and looked forward to learning from China’s good practices through this exchange program, to promote trade, investment, and economic development in their respective countries.

The IFDA was formally concluded in February 2024, currently with 131 WTO member signatories. During the workshop, participants will visit Beijing, Xiamen, and Ganzhou, among other locations, and have in-depth discussions on relevant IFDA provisions and practices for advancing investment facilitation.