US Trade Representative: China visit 'productive'

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, February 12, 2004

US Trade Representative: China visit 'productive'

US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said after meeting with Chinese top leaders Thursday, Feb.12, that his visit to China has been productive.

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US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said after meeting with Chinese top leaders Thursday in Beijing that his visit to China has been productive.

China is Zoellick's second stop during his trip around the world for "strategic dialogue with key partners on the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations of the World Trade Organization (WTO)," after Japan.

During his 20-hour visit to China, the US top trade envoy met with Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and Vice Minister of Commerce Yu Guangzhou.

Zoellick said he wanted it to be clear he came to Beijing because while China is a recent member of the WTO, it is already amajor trading player and one of the key areas of growth of the world.

"Even though my Chinese counterparts understand and are fully engaged in WTO implementation and efforts related to that, I still want to discuss with them to seek help and cooperation in moving the DDA forward," said Zoellick at a news briefing held by the US Embassy in China.

Zoellick said he came away with the sense that "China has a very strong commitment to the DDA" and they talked about ways to work together.

China and the United States have a number of overlapping interests such as agriculture, manufacturing goods area and services, he said, adding that the two countries agreed to have more dialogues at different items and they are looking forward to working together with other countries.

Zoellick recalled his letter to 146 of his WTO ministerial colleagues in January to encourage reassessment of the DDA after the breakdown in Cancun, Mexico.

In the letter, Zoellick suggested people come to a conclusion that "the breakdown of Cancun is a lost opportunity" and "the United States does not want 2004 to be a lost year."

He said his trip provides his ideas to his counterparts by contacting with them directly. He was pleased to get a better sense of his counterparts' ideas on what are their interests in the DDA and what are their ways to push the DDA forward.

He said he tried to ask them what other things the United States might do and what they might do to bring the progress of the DDA forward.

According to the US Embassy in China, Zoellick will continue his trip to Singapore, where he will meet ministers from the Association of South East Asian Nations. While there he will also meet with ministers from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Following Singapore, Zoellick will continue through South Asia,Africa and Europe before returning home.

The goal of the DDA is to reduce trade barriers so as to expand global economic growth, development and opportunity.

China willing to play active role in spurring new WTO talks

A senior Chinese trade official said that China is willing to play a more "active and constructive" role in pushing forward a new round of talks of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Yu Guangzhou told visiting US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick that China will consult with all members of the WTO, including the United States, to stimulate the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) talks.

The DDA, an international program aiming at reducing trade barriers so as to expand global economic growth, development and opportunity, was frustrated by the broken WTO ministers' meeting in Cancun, Mexico last September.

"China appreciates the US' efforts and pro-active suggestions in some sectors for resuming the talks," Yu said during his meeting with Zoellick Thursday.

The trade officials discussed agricultural issues and treatment of WTO new members in their one-hour talks.

As a key and vital component of the DDA, subsidies for agricultural exports seriously distorted trade in a very direct way. The huge subsidies for some developed WTO members violated the international trade principle of fairness and damaged the developing countries' agriculture, Yu said.

China appreciates the US' suggestion to set a definite timetable for eliminating agricultural export subsidies and its commitment to the removal of export subsidies in export finance, he said.

"Those steps will help to narrow disputes between the developedand developing WTO members, and serve to push forward the new round of talks," the vice minister noted.

Yu also expressed China's worry on further opening of its market.

"As a new member of the WTO, China promised a lot to the organization. We opened and are keeping opening our market strictly in accordance with the pledges. It's very tough for us toopen the market on a larger scale in a short term before the existed commitments were all implemented," Yu noted.

Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi, during her meeting with Zoellick Thursday, also insists that China enjoy a special status in the new round of talks and should be granted special and differential treatment.

Zoellick, who had visited Japan and was expected to continue his round-the-world lobbying after his Beijing stop, said the United States appreciates China's constructive suggestions and he hopes the two countries could enhance cooperation for a substantial progress of DDA.

"My Chinese counterparts understand and are fully engaged in WTO implementation and efforts related to that," the top US trade envoy told a news briefing in the US embassy in Beijing after his meeting with Chinese officials.

China and the United States, as two important members of the WTO and major economies of the world, have a number of common interests in agriculture, manufacturing goods and services, the UStrade representative said.

The two countries agreed to have more dialogues at different items and they are looking forward to working together with other countries, he said.

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