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To: ms.smartest.person who wrote (709)	3/27/2001 7:25:24 PM
From: ms.smartest.person	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2248

China Isn't Likely to Enter WTO Until 4th Quarter, Supachai Says March 27, 2001 Business and Finance - Asia China Isn't Likely to Enter WTO Until 4th Quarter, Supachai Says Associated Press HONG KONG -- Acknowledging shrinking optimism that China will quickly enter the World Trade Organization, the incoming head of the WTO on Tuesday said it won't likely happen until late this year. Supachai Panitchpakdi, who is set to become director general of the WTO in 2002, had predicted in February that China could join this spring, but he said a recent trip to Washington changed his mind. 1 China Doesn't Expect WTO Entry Until the Fall, Newspaper Reports (Feb. 26) 2 Talks for China's Entry Into the WTO Stall Over Chinese Agricultural Subsidies (Feb. 6) 3 China's Entry to WTO Runs Into Further Delays (Jan. 18) Mr. Supachai predicted China will join the WTO, the Geneva-based body that sets global trade rules, no sooner than the fourth quarter of the year, although it seems possible before WTO trade ministers meet in early November in Doha, Qatar. A fight over agriculture subsidies is the biggest sticking point, followed by insurance-industry issues. Mr. Supachai said China's entry is also being delayed by new appointments in the administration of President Bush, who took office in January. China wants to be classified under WTO rules as a developing county, which would let it subsidize up to 10% of its farm output, and not as a developed country, which would limit any subsidies to just 5% of output. China currently subsidizes only 2% of its agricultural output but wants to reserve the right to help more of its hundreds of millions of farmers if they are harmed by new competition after China joins the WTO. Mr. Supachai expressed concerns that if China didn't join the WTO by May, U.S. politicians could get caught up in a fresh debate over renewing normal trade relations with China. "But I was told in Washington that I should not worry because it would be a smooth acceptance," Mr. Supachai added, without specifying who had said this to him. Mr. Supachai, formerly the deputy prime minister of Thailand, said the sense of urgency that last year surrounded China's WTO entry seems to have been lost, which he called unfortunate. "I still feel that it is an urgent thing to do, but that has to be backed up by countries which have to settle down and narrow the gap," Mr. Supachai told a luncheon audience of business leaders. "If it slips our fingers this year, it will not be very positive for the world trade debate at the moment," Mr. Supachai said. "We need the same kind of urgency as last year." The WTO has been stymied in efforts to launch a new round of global trade talks since it failed miserably in Seattle in December 1999, with violent protests raging outside a WTO summit and trade ministers hopelessly divided on the inside. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- URL for this Article: interactive.wsj.com Hyperlinks in this Article: (1) interactive.wsj.com (2) interactive.wsj.com (3) interactive.wsj.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printing, distribution, and use of this material is governed by your Subscription Agreement and copyright laws. For information about subscribing, go to wsj.com Used with permission of wsj.com