14th WTO ministerial conference held in Cameroon amid calls for urgent reform

The 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) continued in Cameroon's capital Yaounde on Saturday, with meetings including ministerial sessions on agriculture and development, according to an official schedule.

The four-day conference opened on Thursday, bringing together ministers of economy, trade, and development from around the world, alongside representatives of global economic and trade organizations.

In his welcome remarks, Cameroon's Minister of Trade Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana affirmed the country's commitment to promoting equitable, open and inclusive trade.

One of the conference's main goals is to make progress on a reform program aimed at strengthening the capacity of the institution to respond to the changing world economy, and the reform must lead to a stronger and more effective WTO, he said, stressing the need for WTO reform.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala highlighted the challenges facing global trade, citing conflicts in the Middle East, Sudan, Ukraine, and elsewhere in the world as sources of disruption and uncertainty. She urged members to chart a path forward for the global trading system.

The ministerial conference, the WTO's highest decision-making body, is generally held every two years.

14th WTO ministerial conference held in Cameroon amid calls for urgent reform

China's external debt remained generally stable, with outstanding external debt reaching nearly 2.33 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of last year, official data showed on Friday.

This figure was down 15.5 billion dollars, or 0.7 percent, from the end of 2024, according to data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

China's external debt currency structure had improved in 2025, while the maturity structure remained basically stable, said Li Bin, deputy head and spokesperson of the administration.

At the end of 2025, local currency-denominated external debt had accounted for 55.5 percent of the total, up 1.4 percentage points from the end of 2024, said Li.

In terms of maturity structure, medium- and long-term external debt accounted for 43.5 percent of the total at the end of 2025, down 0.6 percentage points from the end of 2024, Li noted.

Data also revealed that at the end of last year, China's ratio of outstanding external debt to gross domestic product had stood at 11.9 percent, while the ratio of outstanding external debt to export revenue was 56.3 percent.

These indicators remained within internationally recognized safety thresholds, and China's external debt risks are generally controllable, Li explained.

China reports generally stable external debt in 2025