DATE=2/21/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA E-U W-T-O (L)
NUMBER=2-259384
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: China and the European Union have opened two
days of crucial talks in Beijing on China's bid to
join the World Trade Organization. VOA correspondent
Roger Wilkison reports from the Chinese capital, the
E-U is the most important of China's trading partners
with which Beijing has still to strike a deal for
accession into the W-T-O.
TEXT: Neither E-U nor Chinese officials would comment
Monday about the negotiations. But both sides have
raised hopes of a breakthrough. Chinese Premier Zhu
Rongji told W-T-O Director-General Mike Moore last
week he hopes a deal will emerge from this week's
talks. And E-U Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy has
indicated he is ready to take the first flight to
Beijing if there are signs a deal can be struck.
China has to reach agreements with all of the W-T-O's
135 members before it can join the organization that
sets the rules for world trade. Besides the E-U,
Beijing must still negotiate separate deals with such
trading partners as Thailand, Malaysia and India. The
Indian commerce minister was also in Beijing Monday
for W-T-O talks with his Chinese counterpart.
The final push for China's membership in the W-T-O
comes after a market-opening deal that was struck
between Beijing and Washington last November. U-S
officials are hoping for a quick China-E-U agreement
so that the Clinton Administration can submit its
accord with Beijing to Congress. The longer a
congressional vote is delayed, the greater the risk
that the trade deal will fall prey to internal
political pressures in a presidential election year.
The Europeans want a deal that is as good -- if not
better -- than the one the Americans got. Like
Washington, Brussels is holding out for concessions in
the fields of telecommunications and financial
services. An E-U diplomat says E-U trade negotiators
are especially anxious to make sure that European
insurance companies have greater access to the Chinese
market. Individual E-U member countries also have
their wish lists. The British, for instance, want
lower Chinese tariffs on gin, and the French on
cosmetic products.
//REST OPTIONAL//
The Chinese government is anxious to join the W-T-O
after nearly 14 years of negotiation. It sees the
market concessions it must make to get into the group
as a spur to make Chinese companies more competitive.
And it feels that, once China is perceived abroad as a
nation that plays by global trading rules, billions of
dollars in foreign investment will start flowing into
the country. That -- say Chinese economists -- will
help create much-needed jobs as China's creaky state-
owned companies are overhauled and their employees are
thrown out of work. (signed)
NEB/RW/GC/FC
21-Feb-2000 05:43 AM EDT (21-Feb-2000 1043 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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