"China's economic growth is welcomed by Australia and we recognise the economic maturity that it has now realised as a newly developed economy," Mr Morrison said. "This was the point of the world's economic engagement with China." Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video In direct language that went beyond a speech in June that hinted at this direction, Mr Morrison argued that China had achieved its status as a world power and should accept greater responsibilities. Mr Morrison mentioned "environmental challenges" as well as trade but did not specify climate change or emission reductions.

Loading "The world's global institutions must adjust their settings for China, in recognition of this new status," he said. "That means more will be expected, as has always been the case for nations like the United States." China has held out against the removal of its "special and differential treatment" by agreeing that the trade distortions will eventually disappear but insisting on "clarification work" before a wholesale change. China was joined by India, South Africa and Venezuela earlier this year in arguing at the WTO that developing nations should be able to keep their status.

"China's position on WTO reform has been very clear. China is the largest developing country in the world," Chinese commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng said in a press briefing on April 4 reported by the South China Morning Post. While Mr Morrison noted China's "additional responsibilities" in a speech to the Asia Society in June, his remarks in Chicago were more direct about the changes. Mr Morrison said China had benefited from the stability "underwritten by US strategic engagement" over the years since China joined the WTO in 2001. The trade conflict between the US and China appears set to continue after Mr Trump said on Friday he did not need to settle the dispute before the presidential election due in November 2020. The prospects for a deal are clouded by arguments over intellectual property and technology, with Australia and its "five eyes" intelligence partners rejecting Chinese tech giant Huawei.

When the Canadian government detained Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a US arrest warrant earlier this year, the Chinese government responded by banning Canadian canola seed and oil. Canada lodged a claim with the WTO on September 12 arguing the canola ban breached agreements going back to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the body that preceded the WTO. Mr Morrison said the world trading system had to "catch up with the world" by changing old rules that have not caught up with economic shifts such as the rise of electronic commerce. "There is a broader imperative at work," he told the Chicago Global Affairs Council.

Loading "We must demonstrate that collectively we have not lost the ability to adapt and adjust our trading system to new realities. "When there were 144 members of the WTO, the Director General at the time likened the WTO to a vehicle that had one accelerator and 143 brakes. "We cannot allow that to continue. We can no longer move at the speed of the lowest common denominator. It is time for the system to catch up with the world." Repeating his support for the security pact with the US, a constant theme during a state visit that began in Washington last Friday, Mr Morrison said Australia would never take the alliance for granted.