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To: Evan who wrote (3191)	3/4/1999 8:29:00 AM
From: jmhollen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7209

More interesting China news: ************************* Barshefsky Says China Making Progress on WTO Bid; No 'Quick Fix' In Sight Barshefsky Says China Making Progress on WTO Bid (Update2) (Adds comments from EU's Brittan from 7th paragraph.) Beijing, March 4 (Bloomberg) - China is taking fresh steps toward winning entry to the World Trade Organization, but ''significant gaps'' still remain in Beijing's bid, said U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky. Acceptance into the trade group would bind China -- which is among the world's 10 largest trading nations -- to cut tariffs and other barriers to imports, boosting the market for exports from the U.S. and other trading nations. ''We had very good meetings and we made important progress,'' Barshefsky told journalists in Beijing after two days of talks with Chinese officials, including Premier Zhu Rongji and Foreign Trade Minister Shi Guangsheng. Still, the talks will go on and Barshefsky ruled out the possibility of a ''quick fix'' that would see China ushered into the WTO as a gesture to Zhu, who is scheduled to visit the U.S. early next month. ''There is no possibility of a political settlement,'' she said. ''None.'' Barshefsky's visit is the latest by a senior U.S. official to Beijing in recent weeks as both countries prepare for the trip. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Tuesday in Beijing that the U.S. is ''hoping very much for increased flexibility'' from China on its 12-year-long bid to enter the Geneva-based world trade body. EU Warning While welcoming U.S. efforts to speed China's accession to the WTO, European Union Trade Commissioner Leon Brittan warned that the U.S. cannot reach an agreement with China that doesn't meet the demands of other nations in the WTO. ''It shouldn't be forgotten that WTO accession negotiations are a multilateral process,'' Brittan said in a statement in Brussels. ''No one party to the talks can determine the outcome on its own.'' The U.S. and EU have in the past been at odds over how to handle China's WTO bid. EU officials have raised concerns that the U.S. may be ready to ease China's WTO membership in return for preferential access for U.S. companies to the Chinese market. Since China's entry to the WTO is likely to be accompanied by pledges from Beijing to lower import barriers, the U.S. has so far held off bilateral efforts to tackle its rising trade deficit with China. Only Japan has a larger trade imbalance with the U.S. The trade gap in China's favor widened 14 percent last year to a record $56.9 billion, according to U.S. Department of Commerce figures. Chinese exports outpaced purchases from the U.S. by about five to one. The Xinhua news agency earlier today quoted Zhu Bangzao, a foreign ministry spokesman, as saying that China continues to have a ''positive approach towards the WTO issue and hopes to finish relevant negotiations as soon as possible.'' 'Genuine Seriousness' Barshefsky said she was impressed by the ''genuine seriousness'' shown by the Chinese leaders that was not evident until about three months ago. Barshefsky attributed the renewed interest, in part, to signs of a slowdown in direct foreign investment. China attracted $45.5 billion in foreign investment in 1998, little changed from the year before. Inflows from many traditional sources, however, such as Hong Kong and Japan slowed. U.S. negotiators met Zhu for almost two and a half hours today, with Barshefsky coming away impressed by his desire for China to create a more open and predictable market to generate sustainable economic growth. Zhu is expected to tell the country's parliament tomorrow that China's economy will expand about 7 percent in 1999, a drop from the 7.8 percent growth in 1998 and the slowest pace since 1990. To encourage China's apparent new willingness to make concessions, the main WTO negotiator Robert Cassidy will remain for more talks, Barshefsky said. U.S. Secretary of Commerce William Daley will also visit Beijing later this month. To be sure, China's economic slowdown in the past year has seen new barriers rise for foreign businesses. New cartels have been formed in chemicals, oil and steel, among other industries, and foreign companies complain that new foreign exchange rules are making it harder than ever to import. Barshefsky said the fact that the U.S. Congress will scrutinize whatever agreement is reached by the Clinton administration ensures the pact will not be a ''sweetheart deal.'' ''There is no mini-package. There is no quick fix. There is no special deal,'' she said. Barshefsky declined to give details of the main sticking points, but said the two sides made headway on manufactured goods, services and agricultural trade issues.