State-owned enterprises and international competition : towards plurilateral agreement

Publication date: 12 July 2021Concerns about the behaviour and role of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) is a source of rising geo-economic tensions. This is not a matter pertaining only to China. Many World Trade Organisation (WTO) members, including European Union (EU) member states, have SOEs. Recent bilateral and regional agreements signed by China, the EU, and the United States (US) include provisions on SOEs and offer a basis on which to build, suggesting the possibility of negotiating a plurilateral agreement among major WTO members. Preparing the ground for such an effort calls for developing a solid evidence base on the prevalence of SOEs, their economic performance, and associated cross-border competition spillover effects