II 

Calendar No. 97 

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, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. CORNYN, 

and Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

JUNE 13, 2023 

Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

2 It should be the policy of the United States— 

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

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

5 current and future treaty negotiations and in each 

6 international organization of which the United 

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

8 current members; and 

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

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

11 each international organization of which the United 

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

13 current members. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON17 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con18 gress’’ means— 

19 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

20 the Senate; and 

21 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

22 the House of Representatives. 

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

24 the Secretary of State. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORT ON DEVELOPMENT STATUS IN CURRENT 

2 TREATY NEGOTIATIONS. 

3 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact4 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to 

5 the appropriate committees of Congress identifying all 

6 current treaty negotiations in which— 

7 (1) the proposed treaty develops different 

8 standards for the enforcement of the treaty based on 

9 the development status of the member states of the 

10 treaty; and 

11 (2) the People’s Republic of China is under con12 sideration for becoming a party to the treaty. 

13 SEC. 5. REPORT ON DEVELOPMENT STATUS IN EXISTING 

14 ORGANIZATIONS AND TREATIES. 

15 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to 

17 the appropriate committees of Congress identifying— 

18 (1) all international organizations or treaties, of 

19 which the United States is a member, that have dif20 ferent standards for enforcement based on the devel21 opment status of the member states; and 

22 (2) for each of the organizations or treaties 

23 identified pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary 

24 shall provide a list of countries that— 


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1 (A) are labeled as developing nations or re2 ceive the benefits of a developing nation under 

3 the terms of the organization or treaty; and 

4 (B) meet the World Bank classification for 

5 upper middle income or high-income countries. 

6 SEC. 6. MECHANISMS FOR CHANGING DEVELOPMENT STA7 TUS. 

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

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

10 China are both current members, the Secretary shall pur11 sue— 

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

13 of China from developing nation to developed nation 

14 if a mechanism exists in such organization to make 

15 such status change; or 

16 (2) proposing the development of a mechanism 

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

18 the People’s Republic of China in such organization 

19 from developing nation to developed nation. 

20 (b) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica21 tion of paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) with respect 

22 to any international organization if the President notifies 

23 the appropriate committees of Congress that such a waiver 

24 is in the national interests of the United States. 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending China’s Devel3 oping Nation Status Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDING; STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

5 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that the People’s Repub6 lic of China is still classified as a developing nation under 

7 multiple treaties and international organization structures, 

8 even though it has grown to be the second largest economy 

9 in the world. 

10 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

11 United States— 

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

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

14 current and future treaty negotiations and in each 

15 international organization of which the United States 

16 and the People’s Republic of China are both current 

17 members; 

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

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

20 each international organization of which the United 

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

22 current members; and 

23 (3) to work with allies and partners of the 

24 United States to implement the policies described in 

25 paragraphs (1) and (2). 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— 

4 The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Congress’’ 

5 means— 

6 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

7 the Senate; and 

8 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

9 House of Representatives. 

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

11 the Secretary of State. 

12 SEC. 4. REPORT ON DEVELOPMENT STATUS IN CURRENT 

13 TREATY NEGOTIATIONS. 

14 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

15 of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to the appro16 priate committees of Congress that— 

17 (1) identifies all current treaty negotiations in 

18 which— 

19 (A) the proposed treaty would provide for 

20 different treatment or standards for enforcement 

21 of the treaty based on respective development sta22 tus of the states that are party to the treaty; and 

23 (B) the People’s Republic of China is ac24 tively participating in the negotiations, or it is 

25 reasonably foreseeable that the People’s Republic 


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1 of China would seek to become a party to the 

2 treaty; and 

3 (2) for each treaty negotiation identified pursu4 ant to paragraph (1), describes how the treaty under 

5 negotiation would provide different treatment or 

6 standards for enforcement of the treaty based on de7 velopment status of the states parties. 

8 SEC. 5. REPORT ON DEVELOPMENT STATUS IN EXISTING 

9 ORGANIZATIONS AND TREATIES. 

10 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

11 of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to the appro12 priate committees of Congress that— 

13 (1) identifies all international organizations or 

14 treaties, of which the United States is a member, that 

15 provide different treatment or standards for enforce16 ment based on the respective development status of the 

17 member states or states parties; 

18 (2) describes the mechanisms for changing the 

19 country designation for each relevant treaty or orga20 nization; and 

21 (3) for each of the organizations or treaties iden22 tified pursuant to paragraph (1)— 

23 (A) includes a list of countries that— 

24 (i) are labeled as developing nations or 

25 receive the benefits of a developing nation 


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1 under the terms of the organization or trea2 ty; and 

3 (ii) meet the World Bank classification 

4 for upper middle income or high-income 

5 countries; and 

6 (B) describes how the organization or treaty 

7 provides different treatment or standards for en8 forcement based on development status of the 

9 member states or states parties. 

10 SEC. 6. MECHANISMS FOR CHANGING DEVELOPMENT STA11 TUS. 

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

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

14 China are both current members, the Secretary, in consulta15 tion with allies and partners of the United States, shall 

16 pursue— 

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

18 of China from developing nation to developed nation 

19 if a mechanism exists in such organization to make 

20 such status change; or 

21 (2) proposing the development of a mechanism 

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

23 People’s Republic of China in such organization from 

24 developing nation to developed nation. 


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1 (b) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica2 tion of paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) with respect 

3 to any international organization if the President notifies 

4 the appropriate committees of Congress that such a waiver 

5 is in the national interests of the United States. 


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Calendar No. 97 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 308 

A BILL 

To end the treatment of the People’s Republic of 

China as a developing nation. 

JUNE 13, 2023 

Reported with an amendment 


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