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To: ezmoney who wrote (233)	4/9/1999 7:36:00 AM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1567

Friday April 9, 12:04 am Eastern Time China gains exceed pains in WTO move-daily BEIJING, April 9 (Reuters) - China's unprecedented concessions to clear the way for World Trade Organisation (WTO) entry reflect Beijing's view that benefits to the economy exceed threats of opening its markets, an official newspaper said on Friday. In the first official reaction to news from Washington that China and the United States had closed gaps in marathon WTO negotiations significantly, the Guangzhou Daily cited Chinese gains ranging from increased foreign investment and economic growth to enhanced market reforms. ''China's joining the WTO will advance the development of the market economy and introduce international rules that will rectify ills left over from the planned economy,'' the newspaper said in a commentary. ''Although China has not undertaken a detailed analysis, international experts have calculated that joining the WTO would add two percentage points to GDP growth and international experience suggests this would create more than a million jobs.'' The newspaper cited expectations of increased foreign investment inflows as investors received legal protection and national treatment under WTO rules. Foreign investment growth was virtually flat last year and fell sharply in the first two months of 1999. China would also benefit by receiving protection from unilateral measures of other countries as trade disputes were ''fairly and rationally'' handled by WTO agencies. WTO membership would also bring an end to the annual Most-Favoured Nation trade status debate in the U.S. Congress, it said. The newspaper cautioned that China would ''pay not a small price'' for WTO entry. ''Mainly, China's entry means we must do things according to WTO rules and accepting market access demands for goods and services will bring troubles to backward sectors and deliver a shock to domestic markets,'' it said. On Thursday, President Bill Clinton and visiting Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji signed a joint statement in Washington citing the progress and committing them to completion of a WTO deal by the end of the year. U.S. officials said the two sides had closed the gap on about 90 percent of WTO issues, including agriculture and telecommunications, but that negotiators still had work to complete a number of other market access issues on banking, securities and textiles. In a sign of how dramatic and sensitive the development was for China, Beijing's flagship People's Daily and several major economic newspapers delayed printing morning editions on Friday for several hours and had still not appeared by noon (0400 GMT). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Related News Categories: banking, options, politics, telecom, US Market News