When Premier Li Qiang announced on 23 September 2025 that China would no longer seek Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) in future World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations, it signalled more than a diplomatic headline. It was a calculated repositioning by the world’s second-largest economy—an acknowledgement that Beijing has outgrown the comfort of its “developing country” cloak and is prepared to compete alongside major trading powers.For years, China’s dual identity has been contentious. It is the world’s largest goods exporter and a global manufacturing hub, yet it has retained developing-country status at the WTO, a designation that confers flexibilities such as longer timelines to implement rules, greater latitude to use tariffs and subsidies, and preferential treatment in negotiations. Critics—chiefly the United States—argue that this stance is incompatible with China’s economic heft and has impeded meaningful WTO reform.By voluntarily stepping back from future SDT claims, Beijing has removed one of Washington’s most potent talking points. Domestically, the cost is modest: many SDT entitlements under existing agreements have already lapsed. Internationally, the diplomatic payoff is larger. The move has been widely welcomed as a pivotal gesture towards a fairer, more balanced trading system at a time when multilateralism is under strain.The timing is strategic. The WTO has been stuck for more than a decade, hamstrung by disagreements over how to treat large emerging economies. The 2026 ministerial conference in Cameroon is shaping up as a make-or-break moment. By dropping new SDT claims, China helps clear a path to substantive talks on subsidy rules, state-owned enterprises and the rebuilding of a credible dispute-settlement system. The legal impact may be limited; the political signal is not.Great-power trade politics may also shift. In Washington, China’s SDT posture has long served as a catch-all justification for unilateral tariffs and technology restrictions: you cannot, the argument goes, claim superpower privileges while sheltering under developing-country flexibilities. Beijing’s move will not make Section 301 tariffs vanish overnight, but it blunts an easy rhetorical cudgel and nudges both sides towards a more pragmatic conversation. Europe is likely to read the shift similarly. Brussels has struggled to balance defensive instincts with the need to keep trade flowing. China’s willingness to shoulder more obligations reassures sceptical capitals that have accused it of gaming the rules, even as they continue to scrutinise state support and market access.For the Global South, the message is nuanced. China is not abandoning developing-country identity or solidarity. It will continue to identify as a developing country while refraining from seeking new SDT privileges. That dual posture allows Beijing to present itself both as a responsible major power and as a leader among emerging economies. For many in Asia, Africa and Latin America, the question is not symbolism but outcomes: finance for diversification, value addition and better terms across supply chains.The decision also fits a broader pattern. In December 2024, China extended zero-tariff treatment to imports from least-developed countries with diplomatic ties—covering a large swathe of African economies. Such measures are not charity; they are instruments of soft power that build commercial interdependence, cultivate allies and reinforce Beijing’s claim to leadership in the global trading system.What matters now is what follows before Cameroon 2026. If China’s gesture is matched by credible disciplines—at home and at the WTO—on subsidies and state enterprises, it could unlock negotiations others have resisted. Restoring a fully functioning appellate body remains central. Equally important is reciprocity: will the US and EU respond with step-downs of their own, or simply pocket China’s concession? And will renewed momentum translate into tools that help smaller economies move up value chains rather than remain raw-material suppliers?China’s decision to forgo SDT in future WTO talks is a meaningful, forward-looking step that strengthens confidence in multilateral trade. It reframes diplomatic narratives, deprives critics of an easy line of attack and creates space for the reforms the WTO urgently needs. Whether it sparks real change depends on what follows—particularly from other major players. But the signal is unambiguous: Beijing is prepared to carry a larger share of responsibility for the rules that govern world trade.