Chinese Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng has met in Washington with US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky for talks on China's access to the World Trade Organization(WTO).

　 Shi, before leaving here for Beijing on Tuesday after concluding a two-day visit in the US capital, told a group of Chinese journalists that his talks with Barshefsky, held here on Monday, is "beneficial" and "constructive".

　 He said the meeting is the latest efforts on both sides to further implement an understanding on the WTO issue reached by the heads of states of the two countries when they met at this year's APEC summit in Auckland, New Zealand earlier this month.

　 During the Auckland Summit, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and US President Bill Clinton agreed that the two sides would resume bilateral talks on China's entry into the WTO, and make joint efforts to speed up the negotiation process, Shi said.

　 He said that the Chinese side has taken a "sincere" and "positive" stance at the current meeting, and the two sides have conducted "honest" and "serious" consultations in which they further clarified their respective views.

　 The two sides have also decided to arrange for a new round of talks on the WTO issue, said Shi, who arrived here last weekend at the invitation of his American counterpart Barshefsky. (Xinhua)