当前，国际贸易“规则之争”已超越“市场之争”，正在成为新一轮全球化博弈角力点。一方面，全球贸易增长则更为缓慢。根据世界贸易组织（WTO）发布的全球贸易增长预测，2014年和2015年全球贸易额增长预期分别为3.1%和4%，远远低于2008年金融危机前10年平均贸易年增长率6.7%的水平。

另一方面，全球贸易秩序也处于前所未有的新的调整时期。新一代国际贸易规则演进趋势将是以区域贸易规则创建为基础，辅以规范某一领域的诸边贸易规则的发展，通过货物贸易、投资、服务贸易规则的融合后逐渐形成新的多边贸易规则，全球贸易保护主义会更加激烈和隐蔽，从自由贸易转向规则贸易。

金融危机以来，全球区域自贸协定竞争趋于激烈。美国等发达国家通过主导跨太平洋伙伴关系协议（TPP）、跨大西洋贸易与投资伙伴关系协议（TTIP）、诸（多）边服务业协议（TISA）等贸易投资协定谈判，力图推行代表发达国家利益的高标准的贸易投资规则。未来“规则之争”已经超越了“市场之争”，成为新一轮全球化博弈的角力点。

特别是随着全球价值链的高速发展，各国为了获取更大的本国利益和附加价值发起的技术标准、知识产权保护等显性和隐性贸易摩擦手段更受青睐。例如，技术性贸易壁垒数量越来越多，WTO范围内TBT（技术性贸易壁垒协定）和SPS（实施卫生与植物卫生措施协定）通报越来越多。数据显示，2000年 TBT通报量为606件， SPS通报量为 270件，到 2012年TBT和 SPS分别上升到 2185件和 1214件，分别增长2.6倍和 3.5倍，两者合计从876件增加到 3399件，增长了2.9倍。

从大的趋势上看，国际贸易新规则体系强调货物贸易、投资和服务规则的整合。在投资领域，强化对投资者利益的保护；在服务贸易领域，采用负面清单方式，建立全面的、高标准的服务贸易自由化。目前正在谈判的最重要的多边协议是诸（多）边服务业协议（PSA），信息技术协定第二部（ITA2），政府采购协议（GPA），以及环境商品协议（EGA）——也将为双边和多边贸易谈判提供重要动力。

服务贸易协定（PSA）。在全球服务业产值中美、欧、日占去2/3以上，具有绝对至上的大市场和话语权。PSA未来的谈判内容主要包括金融、快递、传播、电信、电子商务、运输、观光、物联网、移动通信网络、互联网等等所有服务业领域；TPP 、TTIP 、PSA等都涉及国家、经济体间的公平竞争、数码贸易、物联网、环境、能源等领域的服务业问题,因此，服务贸易协定可以被视为是美国重构全球贸易规则的核心。

第二部信息技术协定（ITA2）致力于减少或消除在多类先进的信息技术产品上的关税，包括了80个国家。第一部信息技术协定于1997年开始生效；这项新协议旨在扩大产品覆盖范围，进而实现囊括全球97%IT产品的目标。中国承诺扩展贸易壁垒自由化的IT产品范围。然而，由于中国和韩国不能在关于有机发光二极管（OLED）技术和产品的重要关税细目上达成共识，第二部信息技术协定谈判没有达成。只有等到在一些高价值关税细目上的争议解决，才有可能合作完成谈判。

此外，政府采购协定（GPA）加入非常困难的协议。取消对政府采购的限制，既有利于政府更高效地配置资源，也会减少在竞标政府合同中的腐败风险。根据2001年加入WTO的文件，中国同意“尽快”加入政府采购协定。中国已经就政府采购协定的加入问题进行了多年的谈判；尽管中国最近提出扩大国际规则对省级政府的约束范围，但仍未能让其他政府采购协定成员国满意，因此谈判还在继续。

环境商品协议（EGA）旨在消除对一系列有助于减轻污染等恶劣环境作用的商品征收关税。这项倡议于2014年提出，如今包括了中国，美国，欧盟，以及其他14个国家。环境商品协议的谈判代表目前正在制定可用于关税改革的商品清单，其后将探讨关税逐步废除的时间跨度和可能免于自由化承诺的有限例外。环境商品协议潜在的工作量非常巨大，因为第二阶段谈判的目标是将改革扩大到关税自由化以外的领域，呼吁减少非关税壁垒和倡导环境保护相关的服务。

面对美国等发达经济体的“规则优势”，中国并未排除未来参与TPP的可能性，除了当前中国与澳大利亚等签订的双边自由贸易协定，中国近几年来也积极推动东盟“10＋3”（东盟十国＋中日韩）、中日韩FTA、RECP（区域全面经济伙伴关系）、FTAPP（亚太自贸区谈判） “一带一路”等区域合作新框架。

从长远来看，TPP以及PSA、GPA等一系列区域贸易协定和全球新规则的出现也符合中国自身经济结构调整和改革的大方向。中国必须加快构筑全球自贸区网络建设，积极适应美国等新规则的挑战，在货物贸易、服务贸易、投资等领域，适当提高自由化标准，倒逼中国突破市场壁垒，破除体制机制障碍，以开放型竞争新体制带动中国在全球价值链和产业链分工体系中的全面升级。

At present, the “dispute over rules” of international trade has gone beyond “market dispute” and is becoming the focal point of a new round of global contest. On the one hand, global trade grows more slowly. According to the WTO world trade growth forecast, global trade was expected to grow 3.1% and 4% for 2014 and 2015 respectively, far lower than the average annual growth of 6.7% during the decade before the financial crisis in 2008.

On the other hand, the world trade order is in a period of unprecedented adjustment. New world trade rules tend to gradually become new multilateral trade rules based on the establishment of regional trade rules, supported by regulating the development of plurilateral trade rules within one area and through integrating the rules of commodity trade, investment and service trade. Global trade protection will become more intense and more implicit, and free trade will turn into rules-based trade.

Since the financial crisis, the competition over global regional free trade agreements has become tense. The United States and other developed countries have tried to promote high-standard trade rules that represent the interest of the developed countries by dominating the negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) free trade agreement and the plurilateral Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), etc. The dispute over the future rules has been more than a market dispute, and has become a main issue of the new global contest.

In particular, with the fast development of the global value chain, all countries around the world are starting explicit and implicit trade friction measures such as technical standards and intellectual property protection for greater national interests and added value. These measures are much preferred. For example, the number of technical trade barriers is growing, as proved by the increasing notifications about Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement (TBT) and the sanitary and phytosanitory （SPS） agreement within the WTO. Data show that the number of TBT notifications was 606 and the number of SPS notifications was 270 in 2000. But TBT and SPS notifications rose to 2,185 and 1,214 respectively in 2012, growth of 2.6 times for TBT and 3.5 times for SPS. The total notifications of TBT and SPS increased from 876 to 3,399, a 2.9 times growth since 2000.

The new world trade system shows a strong tendency to highlight the integration of trade rules in goods, investment and services. In the investment area, an emphasis is placed on protecting the investor's interests; in the service area, the measure of negative list is taken and services trade will be liberalized comprehensively and at a high standard level. The most important multilateral agreements that are being negotiated now are the Plurilateral Services Agreement (PSA), Information Technology Agreement 2（ITA2）, the Government Procurement Agreement （GPA），and the Environmental Goods Agreement （EGA）. They will strongly push forward the bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations.

First, the PSA. The US, Europe and Japan generate two-thirds of the global service output, absolutely having the big market and the discourse power. The future PSA negotiations will mainly cover all the service areas such as finance, express delivery, transmission, telecom, E-commerce, transportation, sightseeing, internet of Things, mobile communication network and internet. The TPP, TTIP and PSA all involve service issues in the areas of the fair competition among countries and economies, digital trade, internet of things, environment, etc. Thus, a service trade agreement can be taken as the core of the world trade rules that the US is to rebuild.

The ITA2 is dedicated to reducing or eliminating the tariff on the advanced information technology products, involving 80 countries. The first information technology agreement took effect in 1997. The new agreement is to expand the product coverage so as to reach the goal of covering 97% of the world's IT products. China promised to expand the IT product coverage of trade liberalization. However, because China and South Korea failed to reach an agreement on the important tariff items about organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology and products, the second information technology agreement was not reached. Only when the disputes over some high-value tariff items are settled can they cooperate and finish the talks.

In addition, joining the GPA is rather difficult. Eliminating the government procurement restriction can both help governments more effectively reallocate resources and reduce the corruption risk in the bidding cooperation with governments. According to its protocol for accession the WTO in 2001, China agreed to participate in the government procurement agreement “as quickly as possible”. China has negotiated for many years on the issue of joining the government procurement agreement. Although China recently suggested extending the restrictive coverage of the international rules to the provincial-level governments, still other GPA members were not satisfied, so the negotiation is still under way.

The EGA aims at eliminating a series of tariffs on those products that help alleviate environmental pollution. This agreement was first initiated in 2014 and now consists of China, the US, EU and other 14 countries. Negotiators of the EGA are now making a list of goods for the tariff reform and thereafter will discuss the time span of gradually abolishing tariffs and the limited exceptions of possible exempting from liberalization promise. A huge amount of work may need to be done, because the second stage of negotiation aims to extend the reform to those areas outside the tariff liberalization, appeal for reducing non-tariff barriers and advocate environment-related services.

Faced with the US and other developed countries' “advantage of setting rules”, China does not rule out the possibility of joining the TPP in the future. In addition to the bilateral free trade agreement signed between China and Australia, in recent years China has actively promoted a new frame of regional cooperation, including ASEAN-China, Japan and South Korea (10+3), China-Japan-Korea FTA, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP), the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and One Belt One Road.

In the long-term, a series of regional free trade agreements like the TPP, PSA, GPA and the new world rules also conform to China's own economic restructuring and reform direction. China must quickly reinforce the network establishment of the global free trade areas, actively adapt to the challenge of the new rules set by the US and other countries, appropriately enhance its level of liberalization in such areas as goods trade, service trade and investment, force itself to break through market barriers and get rid of institutional barriers. Only by making use of an open competition mechanism can the country successfully promote its upgrading in the global value chain and the labor division system of industrial chain.