On May 6, 2026, former Director of the Trade in Services and Investment Division at the WTO, Mrs. Chai Xiaolin, visited our institute and delivered a lecture on WTO negotiations. The lecture was hosted by Dean and WTO Chairholder Prof. Tu Xinquan. Marking the 25th anniversary of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization and the Institute’s 25th anniversary, the event provided a high-level academic platform for participants to engage directly with front-line practices in international trade negotiations and to deepen their understanding of the multilateral trading system.

Mrs. Chai Xiaolin brings over 40 years of experience in international trade, spanning both national government positions and service in an international organization. She has been deeply involved in multiple rounds of multilateral trade negotiations, accumulating extensive practical experience and profound insights in areas such as services trade rule-making and the coordination of multilateral positions.

At the beginning of the lecture, Prof. Tu extended a warm welcome to Mrs. Chai. He noted that first-hand negotiation experience is an essential complement to academic research in international trade and expressed his hope that faculty and students would gain a deeper understanding of the practical dynamics of WTO multilateral negotiations through her insights.

     During the lecture, under the theme “Deciphering Multilateral Trade Negotiations,” Mrs. Chai systematically shared her perspectives on the core negotiation principle of “fighting without breaking, achieving win-win cooperation.” She first outlined the fundamental elements and evolution of multilateral trade negotiations, explaining the WTO’s core decision-making principle of being “member-driven and consensus-based.” She reviewed key milestones, from the eight rounds of GATT negotiations to the Uruguay Round and the Doha Round. Drawing on the latest developments from the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference, she provided an in-depth analysis of the major points of contention and evolving trends in current core negotiating issues, such as the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions, domestic regulation of services trade, e-commerce, and investment facilitation. Using the negotiations on services domestic regulation as a case study, she further explained the practical techniques and underlying logic involved in combining multilateral and plurilateral approaches.

Reflecting on China’s 25-year journey since joining the WTO, Mrs. Chai proposed a three-dimensional analytical framework for China’s participation in multilateral trade negotiations. First, by taking core national development interests as the bottom line, China should maintain its status as a developing member while balancing industrial development with policy space in the process of opening up. Second, by coordinating the common interests of members as an important lever, China should take into account the development aspirations of developing and least-developed members, promoting inclusive and mutually beneficial outcomes. Third, with safeguarding the authority of the multilateral trading system as the fundamental goal, China should actively participate in, lead, and innovate in the formulation of global economic and trade rules. She also highlighted the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement negotiations, championed by China, as a key case illustrating China’s transformation from a rule-taker and participant to a leader and innovator.

At the conclusion of the lecture, Mrs. Chai engaged in an interactive Q&A session with faculty and students, drawing on her own experience to address both academic and practical questions. In his closing remarks, Director Tu noted that the lecture combined the depth of practical experience with the rigor of academic theory, offering valuable first-hand insights for the Institute’s research and talent development. The event not only deepened participants’ understanding of the operational dynamics of multilateral trade negotiations but also injected new perspectives into the Institute’s ongoing research in WTO-related fields and its efforts to articulate China’s role in global economic governance.