The US-China agreement on China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is " historic" and will strengthen relations between the two countries, senior US administration officials said in Washington on November 17.

"It's a far-reaching agreement," said Sandy Berger, President Bill Clinton's national security advisor. He made the remark Tuesday at a press conference in Turkey's capital of Ankara, where he is accompanying the US president on a visit.

He said the agreement is a win for both China and the United States as well as the rest of the world.

"I believe it's important for the world because China becomes a part of a rules-based system of trade and agreement that ... will strengthen the US-China relationship considerably," he said.

Representatives from the US and China signed an agreement on China's accession to the WTO on Monday in Beijing after 13 years of tough negotiations.

The negotiations came to a halt for a few months after the US- led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade last May during a 78-day air campaign against Yugoslavia.

The US administration officials believe the U.S.-China accord on China's accession to WTO will be conducive to a stronger relationship.

"It's unquestionably an important step forward," Berger said.

US Deputy Trade Representative Susan Esserman told a seminar at the Cato Institute Wednesday that the US-China agreement is " a historic agreement that is a win for America's export-related jobs, for Chinese economic reform, for our global trading system, and for long-term US-China relations."

"The agreement's results first are comprehensive ... China, like other new WTO members, will reduce its trade barriers to levels comparable to those of major trading partners, including some industrial countries," she said.