数字贸易例外规则的类型、演进及中国实践

Types and Evolution of Digital Trade Exception Rules and China’s Responses

数字贸易例外规则是数字贸易领域中寻求贸易自由与国家规制动态平衡的集中体现,大多散见于各双边、区域贸易协定及数字经济协定。这些数字贸易例外规则普遍参考了世界贸易组织协定中例外规则的设置模式、规范表达与功能定位,但在类型和规范内容上存在较大差异。其中,区域贸易协定规定的数字贸易例外规则适用情形及认定,存在扩张趋向。目前中国已缔结条约的数字贸易例外规则,与《全面进步的跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》《数字经济伙伴关系协定》等国际新规则中的同类条款相比存在差距。中国应妥善应对区域和全球性数字贸易规则谈判,更好参与世界贸易组织“电子商务工作计划”,充分利用例外规则为数字贸易发展提供的空间,推进数字领域制度型开放创新,推动数字经济的整体发展。

The digital trade exception rules are the concentrated embodiment of seeking the dynamic balance between trade liberalization and states’regulatory rights in the field of digital trade.The digital trade exception rules can be observed in various bilateral and regional trade agreements and digital economy agree⁃ments.They are generally aligned with the setting mode,normative expression and functional positioning of the WTO exception rules,although they have differences in typology and normative guidance.And there is a tendency of expansion in the application and recognition of digital trade exception rules in regional agree⁃ments.As far as China is concerned,there is a big gap between the digital trade exception rules in the existing treaties and similar arrangements in the new international rules,such as the CPTPP and the DEPA.The research on the types and evolution of digital trade exception rules will help China properly deal with the regional and multinational negotiations of digital trade rules,actively participate in the work under the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce reinvigorated by the WTO,and fully grasp the regulatory space provided by the exception rules to promote the institutional opening and innovation in digital trade,so as to promote the development of digital economy.