China, United States sign breakthrough WTO deal
BEIJING -- Chinese and U.S. negotiators signed a breakthrough agreement Monday that removes trade barriers and clears the biggest hurdle to China's entry into the World Trade Organization.
U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky and China's Foreign Trade minister, Shi Guangsheng, signed the agreement. They then shook hands and were joined in a champagne toast by special economics adviser Gene Sperling and Long Yongtu, China's lead WTO negotiator.
The parties did not immediately offer details of the agreement. But the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that it included specific commitments on opening China's markets for services, industrial goods and agricultural products. The U.S. team had been pressing China to open its relatively closed markets to American goods.
The agreement came after six days of often grueling talks that at times appeared about to break down. Barshefsky said the agreement was historic and that she and Shi agreed it would "help serve as an anchor" to relations.
In Ankara, Turkey, President Clinton said the agreement was "a profoundly important step" in relations between Washington and Beijing and a boon for the global economy.
"Today, China embraces principles of economic openness, innovation and competition that will bolster China's economic reforms and advance the rule of law," he said.
China's Shi called it a win-win deal that is satisfactory to both sides, Xinhua reported.
The agreement removes a major hurdle to China's 13-year bid to join the WTO, world trade's rule-making body. China now needs agreements with other key trading partners, particularly the European Union, in order to become a WTO member.
Time has been pressing for agreements on China's entry to WTO because at month's end the WTO members will discuss launching new global trade liberalization talks. China wants to be part of those talks, but there has been concern that once trade ministers start negotiating new trade liberalization measures they would be too busy to take up Beijing's entry for several years.
WTO membership would bring benefits and drawbacks to China.
Opening the door to greater foreign competition would force inefficient Chinese industries to adopt reforms that the government has been pushing for. U.S. and other non-Chinese firms would be able to sell products and services directly to Chinese consumers, giving them greater choice at cheaper prices. But unemployment, already running at 8 percent in cities, would swell short-term as state factories and small family farms fail.
U.S. businesses in China expressed immediate delight at news of Monday's deal and predicted that U.S. companies would invest more once China is bound by the WTO's trade rules. The deal will lead to increased trade that will benefit both countries, they said.
U.S. demands included opening China's telecommunications and financial services sectors. Washington also wanted China to submit to quotas on textile shipments and anti-dumping measures to prevent surges in low-cost exports.
"Implementation of WTO standards will reduce many of the distribution and regulatory hardships that U.S. businesses now face in China," said John Sullivan, vice chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. "That means more growth potential for American companies and creation of more jobs back home." |
