Illustration: Chen Xia/Global Times

About half of the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have reached a preliminary deal on e-commerce that would permanently ban tariffs on digital transactions, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. Although Washington reportedly signaled a reluctance to fully endorse it, the e-commerce deal is an important success story for the organization, underscoring the vitality of the multilateral trade mechanism.

The global e-commerce market has accelerated in recent years. E-commerce is forecast to account for 41 percent of global retail sales by 2027, a significant increase from just 18 percent in 2017, according to a report released by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 2023. Some analysts believe that e-commerce will be the new engine for the development of global trade, and fertile soil to create wealth and provide the most investment opportunities.

But in recent years, the updating of global trade rules has lagged behind the rapid rise of the e-commerce industries. So, the preliminary deal reached among WTO members is an important step forward in advancing cross-border e-commerce trade. 

The WTO has more than 160 members, and 91 of them were involved in the e-commerce negotiations, including China, Canada and Argentina, according to media reports. China has always been a firm supporter of the multilateral trading system, a faithful follower of free trade principles and an active participant in cross-border e-commerce trade. 

An official of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in December 2023 that China is a key participant in and major proponent of the e-commerce negotiations at the WTO, and has engaged in discussions on all agenda items. China has submitted nine proposals covering more than 20 specific issues, most of which have been incorporated into the consensus.

Efforts to strengthen e-commerce cooperation will help promote trade growth, industrial upgrading and job creation in the world. Especially, it will help some small enterprises in developing countries integrate into the global value chain. By shortening distribution channels and linking production with consumption, e-commerce can promote trade cooperation by lowering costs and raising efficiency.

Accelerating the pace of unlocking the potential of e-commerce in developing countries is a key way to promote international trade. It has been proved that e-commerce can flourish in developing countries and be a powerful instrument to create employment for semi-skilled workers, women and other groups. Negotiations of the global rules on digital trade need to address the concerns of most members of the WTO, especially emerging economies, which have a larger total population than developed countries.

The global economy is increasingly influenced by emerging economies. Some developing countries have grown much faster and more consistently than others. Over the past decades, these economies have become much more integrated with global markets. In the field of e-commerce, global negotiations should listen to the voices of developing countries, and advance international cooperation on the basis of fully taking into account the interests of all member states, including emerging economies.

There is a long way to go in eliminating all obstacles to free trade in e-commerce. Participants may still struggle to make their accord a formal WTO agreement because that would require consensus among all WTO countries, according to Reuters. It is especially regrettable to see the US, the world's biggest power, playing a negative role and hindering global joint efforts. 

There may be differences between the US and the vast number of developing countries in various fields, including cross-border data flows. We hope the US will consider the overall situation of e-commerce development and properly handle trade disputes, rather than safeguarding its hegemony and hindering global efforts to boost e-commerce cooperation.