China formally accepts the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies

China has deposited officially your instrument of acceptance of Agreement on Fisheries Subsidiesthus endorsing the historic agreement for the sustainability of the oceans.

World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala received the instrument from Chinese Trade Minister Wang Wentao at a ceremony in Tianjin ahead of the 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions of the World Economic Forum.

DG Okonjo-Iweala welcomed China’s formal acceptance of the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement, stressing the importance of China’s support in implementing this agreement to protect oceans, food security and livelihoods.

As China is the world’s leading producer in the field of marine fisheries, its support is critical to multilateral efforts to preserve marine resources.

Okonjo-Iweala underscored the importance of ending harmful fisheries subsidies around the world and stressed the need to work together to ensure a legacy of abundance and opportunity for future generations.

For his part, Wang noted that the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies is the second multilateral agreement reached by the WTO since its creation in 1995, and the first aimed at achieving the objective of sustainable development of the environment.

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He stressed the importance of this agreement in strengthening confidence in multilateralism and announced that China has completed the approval procedure for the agreement.

Wang said China will work with all members to promote its entry into force before the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference. In addition, China will actively and constructively participate in the second phase of the negotiations and hopes to get results soon.

The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies was adopted by consensus at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in June 2022. It sets out binding, multilateral rules to curb harmful subsidies, which have contributed to the depletion of fish stocks around the world.

The agreement prohibits support for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, as well as support for fishing for overexploited stocks and subsidies for unregulated high seas fishing.

For the Agreement to enter into force, the acceptance of two thirds of the members of the WTO is required. Members also agreed to continue negotiations on outstanding issues related to the Agreement, with the aim of making recommendations for the next Ministerial Conference in February 2024 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.