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To: allen v.w. who wrote (38471)	11/21/2000 5:04:45 AM
From: allen v.w.	Respond to of 40688

China confident that it will be admitted to WTO this year November 11, 2000 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ^With BC-APEC-Roundup< By JOE MCDONALD= Associated Press Writer= BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei (AP) _ China's foreign minister expressed confidence Sunday that his country will join the World Trade Organization this year, despite enduring disagreements with its trading partners over the conditions of its membership. China's chances of joining the WTO after 14 frustrating years of trying also seemed to improve in Europe on Thursday during a meeting of the WTO's China working party. It reported ``substantial progress'' in accession talks, including breakthroughs in three vital areas to bring Chinese policy into line with international practice. They include monitoring Chinese compliance with its WTO obligations, providing judicial reviews of grievances with its trading partners, and standardizing the administration of import duties. ``China clearly has one foot in this place,'' WTO deputy director-general Paul-Henri Ravier said at WTO headquarters in Geneva. ``Now, we have to put the other foot in.'' In Brunei on Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said: ``I am full of confidence. Personally, I think there is a great possibility that China will enter the WTO within this year.'' His comment came as he headed into a bilateral meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister John Manley at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Bandar Seri Begawan. Leaders from the 21-member APEC group will meet here on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss issues such as free trade. However, a Canadian official who organized the bilateral meeting seemed less optimistic. She said Canada continues to favor China's WTO membership, but that Tang may be too optimistic about how soon that will happen. She spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity. Despite market-opening concessions being offered by Beijing, China and its trading partners have not agreed on all the details of how China will treat its trading partners as it joins the WTO and afterward. China wants as generous a transition period as possible in order to protect struggling state-run companies as they begin to face tough competition from richer more sophisticated foreign rivals. China's senior leaders also are expected to have a hard time overcoming resistance among lower bureaucrats to exposing state companies to competition and surrendering their powers to WTO requirements. Beijing has long set its sights on joining the WTO by the end of this year, but some of its trading partners still regard that goal as elusive. Tricky questions remain about Chinese subsidies to help state industries compete. China is clinging to its insistence that it is a developing country and so needs more time than advanced economies to phase out subsidies and adapt to WTO rules. There also is the problem of China granting access to foreign providers of services such as banking and telecommunications.