China Emphasizes WTO Commitments, Rights Equally

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, July 30, 2002

China Emphasizes WTO Commitments, Rights Equally

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China will continue to put equal emphasis on its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments and rights after its accession to the body, said Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) spokeswoman Gao Yan Tuesday in Beijing.

China has been dealing with all work relating to WTO entry for half a year, said Gao at a press conference on China's foreign trade and investment.

As a responsible country, China will abide by WTO rules and usethem to safeguard its rights and interests, she said.

China will put equal stress on opening up its markets and reasonably protecting them, as well as on opening up and safeguarding national economic security, she said.

Since the end of 2001, China has strictly implemented its WTO obligations, cutting tariff levels and reducing the number of imports which require quota license from 33 kinds to 12, she said.

China has promulgated new laws to further open its service trades, and the State Council has rectified or relinquished over 2,300 provisions relating to foreign trade and investment so as to meet WTO standards, she said.

Meanwhile, China has actively utilized WTO rights to safeguard its own interests, she said, pointing to China's full participation in the new round of WTO negotiations, handling economic and trade disputes on the basis of WTO rules, and the fight against international trade protectionism, she said.

Generally speaking, WTO membership has influenced the Chinese economy in a positive way in the first half year, such as increasing confidence of investors, acceleration of domestic industrial restructuring, progress in legal system, the growth of exports and foreign investment, and limiting the impacts on some sensitive sectors including agriculture.

China to actively participate in WTO negotiations

China will take an active part in the new round negotiations of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to push forward regional economic cooperation, said Gao Yan.

Gao said the talks will cover agriculture, service trades, environmental protection, investment policy, competition, government purchase and trade facilitation, which are all concernsof China.

China's participation aims to safeguard the common interests ofChina and other developing countries, and to promote the establishment of a fair, just and reasonable new order of international trade, she said.

China will actively boost trade and investment liberalization and facilitation within the framework of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, strengthen economic ties among members of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and push forward negotiations on aChina-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) free trade area and consultations on closer economic and trade relations between China's mainland and Hong Kong, she said.

The China-ASEAN negotiations and mainland-Hong Kong consultations have started in the first half of this year, and thetrade and investment facilitation process among SCO members kickedoff in Shanghai in May, she said.

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