China Re-Thinking>
Wednesday August 25, 12:42 am Eastern Time
China media hint at return to WTO talks with U.S.
By Paul Eckert
BEIJING, Aug 25 (Reuters) - A Chinese daily said on Wednesday there was ''every
indication'' Beijing leaders remained keen to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO)
despite setbacks since the NATO bombing of China's Belgrade embassy in May.
''Although the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia has slowed the pace of
negotiations on WTO entry, there has been no change in China's resolve to join and the
overall tone remains the same,'' the Financial Daily said.
In the latest and strongest sign China soon may get back to business with the United States after a four-month hiatus since the
bombing of its embassy, the newspaper said there was ''hope for restarting'' WTO talks amid warming bilateral ties.
''There seem to be signs recently of a thaw in China-U.S. relations,'' it said.
Positive signs included the U.S. decision to continue Normal Trade Relations with China, American efforts to restrain Taiwan
after controversial statehood remarks by President Lee Teng-hui and an exchange of cordial messages between the two
countries' leaders after their Women's World Cup soccer showdown, it said.
The report did not repeat China's longstanding call to be admitted to the WTO on softer ''developing country'' terms, a stance
that has been a stumbling block in previous negotiations.
''The key will be the meeting between Chinese Pesident Jiang Zemin and U.S. President Bill Clinton at the Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in New Zealand,'' it said.
Jiang and Clinton will meet on the sidelines of the summit of APEC leaders to be held in Auckland on September 11-12.
China, which froze WTO talks with the United States after NATO bombed its embassy in Yugoslavia on May 7, said last
week it still awaited ''concrete actions'' from Washington beyond repeated apologies and agreed compensation for victims of
the attack.
China rejected as unconvincing the U.S. explanation that the bombing which killed three Chinese journalists and injured 27 was
a targetting error caused by faulty intelligence.
A Hong Kong newspaper said on Wednesday Beijing and Washington would formally resume WTO talks in early September
and an agreement was expected by the end of October.
An official at the U.S. Trade Representative's office would travel to Beijing to hold technical talks with Chinese officials early
next month, the independent Hong Kong Economic Times quoted unidentified sources as saying.
U.S. and Chinese officials contacted in Beijing said they were unable to confirm any schedule for trade talks.
Wednesday's reports came a day after the China Trade News quoted China's chief WTO negotiator as saying the day Beijing
joins the WTO ''shouldn't be far away.''
Long Yongtu, vice minister of foreign trade and point man for WTO negotiations, was quoted by the newspaper as telling a
recent seminar China had more to gain than to lose in acceding to the body that sets world trade rules.
The Financial Daily said Long had held a series of talks with major Chinese firms and government ministries, urging them to
''deeply research the pluses and minuses of WTO entry and to avoid speculation based on hearsay evidence.''
WTO entry would create a better investment environment by helping Chinese rules converge with global standards. It would
also bring competitive pressures to bear on state industry, especially on China's immature service sector, Long said.
China announced last week that contracted foreign investment in the first seven months of this year had plunged 20.5 percent
from a year earlier, while actual investment inflows fell 10 percent compared to the same period in 1998.
Aside from worries about slowing investment, analysts say China's failure to conclude a WTO agreement before a new round
of multilateral negotiations opens in November could result in years of delay during which the entry price to China will rise.
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