General

The World Trade Organization, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, recently released the "2021 World Trade Report." The report explores the fragility and resilience of the global trading system in the face of crises, and emphasizes that multilateral and regional trade cooperation is conducive to the global response to future crises.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Ivira said in the report that the WTO needs to make more contributions to enhancing economic resilience, because natural and man-made risks and disasters may increase in the future. Improving the transparency and predictability of trade measures is very important and helps policymakers and companies make informed decisions.

According to the report, although the global economy, which is characterized by deep trade ties, is more susceptible to shocks, it is also more resilient to shocks. Policies that attempt to enhance economic resilience by disrupting trade integration, such as encouraging production repatriation and self-sufficiency, often have the opposite effect, and more regional and multilateral cooperation can help strengthen economic resilience.

The report pointed out that the current health and economic crisis caused by the epidemic is a large-scale stress test on the world trading system and has caused an unprecedented impact on the global supply chain. However, the world trading system is more resilient than many people expected at the beginning of the crisis. The supply chain adapts quickly. Goods including important medical supplies continue to flow across borders. Many economies have gradually begun to recover.

The report believes that with the support of strong international trade rules, more trade cooperation at the multilateral or regional level is conducive to avoiding and mitigating risks, effectively responding to shocks and recovering from them.