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This article offers a full-length examination of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) held in Geneva between 12–17 June 2022. Its purpose is to assess critically the processes and outcomes of meeting and explore their significance for the future of multilateral trade and the WTO. The article begins with an exploration of the context in which MC12 took place, focusing on the role and effect of a series of geopolitical crises – including COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine – and enduring internal challenges, particularly in dispute settlement and the negotiating function. It then examines the dynamics of the conference before turning to each of the principal areas under negotiation during the meeting. Here the focus is on fisheries, e-commerce, agriculture, and the Trade Related Intellectual Property (TRIPs) waiver. Our argument is that although the outcome of the meeting represents something of a success – particularly in forging an agreement tackling harmful fisheries subsidies – significant challenges remain that threaten the long-term relevance of the organization and its capacity to deliver on its core mandate.

2021 marked the twentieth anniversary of China entering the WTO. Those first two decades have been far from smooth with multiple trade tensions arising between China and other members, both within the WTO and beyond. This article uses the twenty-year milestone as an opportunity to assess China’s role within the global trade system and the impact it has had on broader trade relations. We argue that while there are areas of China’s trade-related practices that are worrying and present severe challenges to the system, claims that it is consistently behaving outside of the WTO’s established rules and norms are exaggerated. While China is certainly using all the latitude available within the rules and is at times transgressing WTO law, its behaviour remains similar to that of other great powers within the system and is consistent with what is expected within any inherently competitive system wherein conflict and contestation are normal features of engagement.