Intensive negotiations are going on behind the scenes in Beijing and Brussels to prevent a repeat next year of the bitter confrontation between China and some EU countries - including Ireland - over human rights which occurred earlier this year. One suggestion being discussed is the appointment of a rapporteur on human rights in China by the UN Commissioner on Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, according to a senior diplomat.
At the same time Beijing moved closer yesterday to persuading the EU and the United States to admit China to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by agreeing to a set of free-market principles.
This followed talks between Chinese officials and the EU Trade Commissioner, Sir Leon Brittan, who said they had achieved a "conceptual breakthrough" with Beijing's decision in principle to phase out all quotas on imports according to a clear schedule and by a fixed date.
On human rights, the EU Commissioner told journalists that a recent agreement to renew a human rights dialogue with Beijing which had been broken off last year meant that the climate was now more conducive to "constructive, open-minded engagement" than it had been for a long time.
A senior EU diplomat disclosed that next week Chinese and European officials will meet in Brussels under the auspices of the Commission on Foreign and Security Policy (CSSP) to begin a process which could end the annual condemnation of human rights in China at the United Nations Human Rights Commission, based in Geneva.
An EU resolution condemning China's human rights record has been tabled at the commission every year since the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
However, this year France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Greece refused to co-sponsor the motion, which was eventually tabled by Denmark. It was supported by the remaining EU countries, including Britain and Ireland, and by the US.
France, which first broke the consensus, and which has growing trade ties with China, argued that dialogue with Beijing would achieve more results. Australia also broke ranks and began its own human rights dialogue with China.
Beijing froze out those countries which backed the Danish resolution. It cancelled a $10 million environmental contract with Denmark, giving it instead to Spain, and put off planned intergovernmental exchanges, including a visit to Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Austria by Mr Zhu Rongji, China's top economics official.
The EU wants to avoid another embarrassing split and no EU country may table a human rights motion in 1998. "The trick is getting a country to table one," a senior diplomat said. "The Danes last year brought the roof down on their head, and they are unlikely to want to be the villain again."
"It's important for Europeans not to be split and this could be a breakthrough for both sides," another European diplomat said. "But if there is no progress there is no guarantee another resolution will not be put."
While the idea of a rapporteur is being floated as a way of taking countries off the hook, it would require the agreement of the Chinese side, a European envoy said.
The chairman and vice-chairman of the UN arbitrary detention working group arrived in China last week as a measure of increased co-operation between China and the UN Human Rights Commission. They were to meet the Vice Foreign Minister, Mr Li Zhaoxing, a Chinese official said, adding that Beijing hoped "they will have a better understanding of the actual conditions in China and accurately reflect to their headquarters the progress China has made in the field of human rights."
The EU faces the dilemma that while its member states remain highly critical of China's record on human rights, the annual UN motion is achieving little, and is always blocked by China, diplomats say.
EU-China trade, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, has been increasing sharply in volume in recent years, with exports rising from 18.2 billion Ecu (4.7 per cent of total) in 1990 to 41.9 billion Ecu (6.7 per cent) in 1996. Imports have risen from 28 billion (6.4 per cent) to 50.1 billion Ecu (8.6 per cent).
The Human Rights Watch organisation has urged continued condemnation of China, telling the European Parliament that "China has continued to tighten controls on freedom of expression and to persecute religious and political dissidents and labour activists."
Although human rights is formally excluded from the WTO dialogue, Beijing will be required to adopt a more open and law-based style of government if it accepts WTO rules. Sir Leon said yesterday that China will not only phase out all quotas on imports by a fixed date, it also agreed there would be only "very limited exceptions" as it reduced its average import tariff levels, and that in services, all foreign providers would enjoy "balanced and equitable" access to China.
"This agreement amounts to a conceptual breakthrough that will invigorate the negotiation process," he said.
China's efforts to join the WTO have been obstructed by several western countries, led by the US, which believe China must first do more to open its markets.
US diplomats hope that Beijing will announce concessions on human rights when President Jiang Zemin meets President Clinton in Washington at the end of the month. They expect Mr Jiang will agree to reopen formal talks on human rights.
Last month, European foreign ministers agreed to a resumption of human rights talks with Beijing.