To help newly enrolled master's and doctoral students establish a cognitive framework for the global trade system and adapt to an international academic context, The China Institute of WTO Studies (CIWTO) of the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing, hosted the third lecture in the pre-enrollment training series for new students on August 30. The lecture featured Dr. Mohammad Saeed, a senior expert in international trade law and policy, and was delivered entirely in English to create an immersive international academic atmosphere for the new students.

At the beginning of the lecture, Prof. Tu Xinquan, WTO Chairholder at UIBE, warmly welcomed Dr. Saeed, noting that his practical experience and academic insights are crucial for new students to understand the multilateral trading system. He briefly introduced Dr. Saeed's background: as an authority in international trade law, customs administration, tariff policy, and cross-border trade procedures, Dr. Saeed has served as Head of Trade Facilitation and Enterprise Policy at the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Geneva, Senior Technical Advisor on Trade and Transport Facilitation at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Negotiator at Pakistan's Permanent Mission to the WTO in Geneva, and Chairperson of the WTO Dispute Settlement Panel. He has a profound understanding of the legal, economic, and political dimensions of WTO agreements and the multilateral trading system.         

With the theme "A Panoramic View of Global Trade: Multilateralism in an Era of Turbulence and Hesitation," Dr. Saeed analyzed the topic from three dimensions: history, challenges, and reform. He reviewed the development of multilateralism and the WTO: to curb economic nationalism after World War II, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was established in 1947; in 1995, the WTO replaced GATT, building a comprehensive legal framework covering 98% of global trade and establishing the principles of predictability, non-discrimination, and fair competition. He cited data and cases to illustrate the WTO's contributions: global trade volume has increased sixfold since 1995, lifting over 1 billion people out of poverty; the dispute settlement mechanism has resolved more than 600 disputes, with the case of Antigua and Barbuda v. United States demonstrating that "rules are power"; the 2017 Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) has reduced trade costs by up to 14% for developing countries.

Addressing the current status of the WTO on its 30th anniversary, Dr. Saeed analyzed multiple challenges: while the number of WTO members has grown from 76 in 1995 to 166 in 2025, old rules struggle to address new issues such as digital trade, climate change, and state capitalism; the Doha Development Round has stagnated, and the Appellate Body paralyzed in 2019 due to U.S. opposition, weakening global trust in the dispute settlement mechanism. He further pointed out that geopolitical and economic factors have exacerbated the predicament, with rising protectionism, and countries pursuing industrial reshoring and "friendshoring"; the United States has used tariffs to pressure trade deficit reduction, while China's trade rise and state-driven economy since its WTO accession have sparked disputes over subsidies and intellectual property rights. When analyzing the core reasons for the WTO's stagnation, Dr. Saeed emphasized the difficulty in balancing sovereignty and multilateralism, the abuse of exceptions to most-favored-nation (MFN) treatment, disagreements among major economies on the identification of "developing countries," low efficiency of the "single undertaking" and consensus-based decision-making, and the lack of rules in new areas.

During the interactive session, a new student asked about "the practical mechanisms and negotiation difficulties of flexible multilateralism." Dr. Saeed responded with the "ABC classification" under the Trade Facilitation Agreement: member states classify obligations into Category A (implementation upon signature), Category B (implementation with a transition period), and Category C (implementation after receiving technical assistance). This flexibility can reduce negotiation resistance and provide a path for the implementation of agreements.

This lecture built a platform for new students to communicate with international experts, helping them understand the complexity of global trade governance and the urgency of WTO reform, and fostering critical thinking from an international perspective. The China Institute of WTO Studies (CIWTO) of UIBE stated that it will continue to focus on the frontiers of global trade, host more high-level international academic activities, and assist new students in growing into research-oriented talents with both professional competence and international competitiveness.