The International Economic and Trade Governance Online Lecture Series, co-organized by BNUBS and LEDECO Geneva, came to a successful end on 15th July. Since the first lecture on July 1st, the Lecture Series invited many famous experts and officials from international organizations to participate as speakers, delivering seven online lectures around "WTO Reform and China’s Role", "Multilateralism and Regionalism", "Advantages of the WTO and the MTS", "COVID-19-related Trade Measures", "Reshaping the Institutional Architecture of Globalization", "Global Trade Cooperation after COVID-19" and "Trade Law and Data-driven Economy".

Clemens Boonekamp, former director of Agriculture and Commodities Division, WTO and former senior economist of IMF, introduced the importance of trade and its norms from the perspective of traditional economic theories and daily life, and emphasized the basic principles that WTO defines through its legal framework, namely, Non-discrimination, Transparency and Reciprocity.

Professor Patrick Low, former chief economist of WTO, systematically discussed the reasons and necessity of establishing preferential trade agreements from three aspects: the nature of trade policies, the limitations of WTO and political factors.

Hector Torres, former executive director of IMF, former Legal Counsellor of the Secretariat of WTO Appellate Body, pointed out that it was imperative to reshape the institutional architecture of globalization. Reshaping WTO and other international economic organizations will help countries rebuild mutual trust, reach consensus and promote common development.

Ambassador Alejandro Jara, former deputy director-general of WTO and former permanent representative of Chile to WTO, believes that 25 years after the establishment of WTO, its rules are in urgent need of renewal. The financial crisis of 2008 slowed the growth of global trade, while emerging economies such as China have grew rapidly. The international trade situation has undergone profound changes, and the failure of the Doha Round of World Trade Talks and other negotiations also requires WTO to carry out deep-rooted reforms.

Gregory Shaffer, professor at the University of California, Irvine, elaborated on the challenges of the digital economy in the legal context, in particular the boundary of the definition of trade in goods and services, as well as the different legal rules governing the flow of data in different countries. Therefore, Professor Shaffer also describes the work of WTO members in regulating digital trade and the efforts of the major economies themselves.

Dr. Jan Bohanes, senior consultant of Advisory Center on WTO Law(ACWL), explained a series of import and export intervention and subsidy measures taken by member countries after the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as the application of relevant WTO rules.

Professor Peter Draper, executive director of Institute for International Trade, University of Adelaide, Australia, thinks that as a global public health event, COVID-19 has a huge impact on trade. Some members suggested that medical supplies may be subjected to relief from duty through plurilateral negotiations to control state subsidies for domestic companies and the resulting trade friction, and at the same time minimize the negative impact of countries’ response to COVID-19 on global cooperation through multilateral negotiations.

In the past half month, the distinguished guests made explanations around their respective themes. After the lectures, students exchanged and interacted with the distinguished speakers on the issues they cared about. The Lecture Series attracted nearly 200 students from BNUBS to listen and discuss online, which achieved outstanding results.

(By Office of International Exchange and Cooperation)