Bid to label China 'developed country' defies truth

Editor's note: The PRC Is Not a Developing Country Act was passed in the US House of Representatives not long ago, which "requires the Department of State to take actions to stop China from being classified as a developing country by international organizations". The US Congress introduced a resolution recently that opposes China's status as a developing country in the World Trade Organization. The following are excerpts of Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin's response to a question on that at a regular news conference in Beijing on Friday:

That China is the world's largest developing country is a fact that is recognized by the world. The "developed country" label the United States wants to put on China will not stick.

China's per capita gross domestic product last year was $12,741, one-sixth that of the United States and one-fifth that of the other advanced economies. China's gross national income ranked 68th in the world and it ranked 79th on the Human Development Index in 2021.

China's status as a developing country is recognized by the World Trade Organization and international agreements such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and is accepted by the vast majority of the members of the international community.

Moreover, China does not use that status as a shield to avoid its international obligations or as a stepping stone to special privileges. Instead, the country has been contributing tremendously to world peace and development.

China was the first country to realize the Millennium Development Goals and it has accounted for more than 70 percent of the global poverty reduction. China is now the second largest contributor to the United Nations' regular budget and peacekeeping assessments. In the WTO, the special and differential treatment provisions for China provide far less favorable support than the average level of support enjoyed by developing countries.

The US has come up with various false narratives in a bid to deny China's developing country status. In doing so it aims to suppress China's development and disrupt and stall the momentum of the collective rise of developing countries. But the US does not get to decide whether China is a developing country.

China will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. And it will continue to work for the greater representation and say of developing countries in the international governance system and defend the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of developing countries.