The American business community in Beijing is "delighted" by the bilateral agreement which sees China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), said Richard Latham on November 16, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in the People's Republic of China (AmCham-China).

Latham's remarks represent the common feeling among American business people in China after it was announced that China and the United States had signed documents concerning China's entry into the WTO on Monday.

"We pledge our full support in the implementation process in coming years", Richard said.

John Sullivan, vice-chairman of AmCham-China and a lawyer of Baker & Mckenzie, said that AmCham members look forward to studying the details of the agreement. The lawyer also said that China's accession to the WTO will most likely see an increased investment in China operations by US companies.

Foreign companies, especially those which have been conducting business in China for a long time such as automobile, telecommunications, and service trade industries, are most concerned about what impact the agreement will have on their companies.

General Motors, the biggest foreign investor in China, said in a statement that "given the size of China's economy and its impact on the world trading system, bringing China into the multilateral trade order and the mainstream of the trading community is in everyone's best interest."

A spokesman of General Motors said that "the Buicks produced at Shanghai GM are of world-class quality, and given the demand we have seen for thus far, we fully expect to remain competitive after China enters the WTO." (more)

Foreign Business Community Applauds Sino-US WTO Agreement (2)

Michael Chen, president of Lucent Technologies (China), also said that "Lucent is excited about the opportunities that may result from this agreement."

"We look forward to strengthening our relationships with existing customers and to developing new business opportunities that will allow us to offer China the system, software, silicon and services it needs to build end-to-end next-generation networks for the new millennium," Michael added.

Jim Jarrett, president of Intel (China), said that the bilateral agreement signals great progress by providing a wider platform for China to play a bigger role in the world economy. Jarrett added that the agreement will further promote foreign investment in China.

Motorola (China) said in a statement that "we believe it is vital to the health of international commerce that the most populous nation in the world fully participate in the organization responsible for rules governing more open and fair global trade."

A staff member of Intel who is receiving training told the reporter that the whole class was ecstatic when they heard of the news. (Xinhua)