China clears final hurdles to earn WTO membership

The way has been cleared for China to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) following an agreement between China and the European Union on outstanding issues over accession.

A Chinese delegation will arrive in Geneva today for next week's 16th session of the working party on China's accession to the WTO confident that the last hurdle to the country's 15-year campaign to join the international trade body has been removed.

The European Trade Commissioner, Mr Pascal Lamy, who met the Chinese Trade Minister, Shi Guangsheng, in Brussels this week, said the way was now clear for China to join the WTO in coming months.

"This is good news for China, for the EU, and for the world's multilateral trading system," Mr Lamy said.

However, neither the Commission nor China would give details of the agreement, which is subject to approval by the Council of Ministers of the European Union and the Chinese government.

Mr Lamy said he would work closely with the Chinese side in Geneva towards entry into the organisation.

Two weeks ago China and the United States came to agreement on their WTO differences, namely over farm subsidies. China has insisted that it be treated as a developing country, allowing it greater latitude to subsidise its hundreds of millions of farmers. Both countries finally agreed to 8.5 per cent subsidies for China's farmers.

The outstanding differences between China and the EU included a disagreement about the number of licences that should be awarded to allow European insurance companies to operate in China. The EU said China had failed to implement previous agreements on market access for the insurance companies. Foreign banks are also frustrated by the difficulty of entering China's sheltered market. If China joins the WTO, foreign firms will be able to access a market of almost 1.3 billion consumers, while China will enjoy tariff and duty-free access to foreign markets.

The agreement on Wednesday increases the chance that China can join the WTO before a new round of global trade talks begins in Qatar in November.

The Chinese Vice-Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation, Mr Long Yongtu, said yesterday that membership would create a market based on international standards and would benefit China's domestic enterprises.