II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 308 

To end the treatment of the People’s Republic of China as a developing 

nation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2023 

Mr. ROMNEY (for himself and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To end the treatment of the People’s Republic of China 

as a developing nation. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending China’s Devel5 oping Nation Status Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

7 It should be the policy of the United States— 

8 (1) to oppose the labeling or treatment of the 

9 People’s Republic of China as a developing nation in 

10 current and future treaty negotiations and in each 


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1 international organization of which the United 

2 States and the People’s Republic of China are both 

3 current members; and 

4 (2) to pursue the labeling or treatment of the 

5 People’s Republic of China as a developed nation in 

6 each international organization of which the United 

7 States and the People’s Republic of China are both 

8 current members. 

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON12 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con13 gress’’ means— 

14 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

15 the Senate; and 

16 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

17 the House of Representatives. 

18 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of State. 

20 SEC. 4. REPORT ON DEVELOPMENT STATUS IN CURRENT 

21 TREATY NEGOTIATIONS. 

22 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact23 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to 

24 the appropriate committees of Congress identifying all 

25 current treaty negotiations in which— 


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1 (1) the proposed treaty develops different 

2 standards for the enforcement of the treaty based on 

3 the development status of the member states of the 

4 treaty; and 

5 (2) the People’s Republic of China is under con6 sideration for becoming a party to the treaty. 

7 SEC. 5. REPORT ON DEVELOPMENT STATUS IN EXISTING 

8 ORGANIZATIONS AND TREATIES. 

9 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact10 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to 

11 the appropriate committees of Congress identifying— 

12 (1) all international organizations or treaties, of 

13 which the United States is a member, that have dif14 ferent standards for enforcement based on the devel15 opment status of the member states; and 

16 (2) for each of the organizations or treaties 

17 identified pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary 

18 shall provide a list of countries that— 

19 (A) are labeled as developing nations or re20 ceive the benefits of a developing nation under 

21 the terms of the organization or treaty; and 

22 (B) meet the World Bank classification for 

23 upper middle income or high-income countries. 


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1 SEC. 6. MECHANISMS FOR CHANGING DEVELOPMENT STA2 TUS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—In any international organization 

4 of which the United States and the People’s Republic of 

5 China are both current members, the Secretary shall pur6 sue— 

7 (1) changing the status of the People’s Republic 

8 of China from developing nation to developed nation 

9 if a mechanism exists in such organization to make 

10 such status change; or 

11 (2) proposing the development of a mechanism 

12 described in paragraph (1) to change the status of 

13 the People’s Republic of China in such organization 

14 from developing nation to developed nation. 

15 (b) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica16 tion of paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) with respect 

17 to any international organization if the President notifies 

18 the appropriate committees of Congress that such a waiver 

19 is in the national interests of the United States. 

Æ 


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