Following are excerpts of this article written by He Meizhong: The signing of the bilateral agreement by China and the United States on China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) on November 15, 1999 is an event of important immediate and far-reaching historical significance. On the whole, its important significance is manifested mainly in the following aspects:

Firstly, it helps China further push forward the cause of reform, opening up and socialist modernization drive geared to the 21st century.

Joining the WTO will provide China with a strong impetus for deepening reform, promoting structural readjustment and technological progress and improving the quality and efficiency of economic development. It will help improve a relatively stable external environment needed for China's economic development, enable China to directly participate in the formulation of international rules and safeguard China's rights and interests; it will facilitate China's more extensive and intensive participation in international division of labor and international cooperation, and it will boost the utilization of foreign capital and export. The agreement reached between China and the United States through recent negotiations has further reinforced the confidence of the whole world in China's continued reform and opening policy. We believe that China's opening to the outside world will usher in the international community's wider opening to China.

Of course, as an applicant for accession to the WTO, China, while enjoying the rights involved, will have to perform corresponding duties and will face possible risk and pressure brought about by its promise to open its markets. The opening of markets and the reduction of protection will possibly bring challenges to some Chinese industries. But this is a price we must pay for the greater interests we gain from our entry into the WTO. These challenges can be turned into motive force for development through reform.

Secondly, it helps accelerate the process of China's entry into the WTO.

The United States is the biggest developed country in today's world, it has a great weight on the world economy and trade, as well as China's second largest trade partner. As a principal member of the WTO, the United States exerts important influence on the formulation and operation of the rules of international trade. Therefore, the bilateral agreement reached between China and the United States helps accelerate the process of China's entry into the WTO. The WTO has a membership of 135, 37of whom have demanded for conducting bilateral market access negotiations with China. Up till now, 16 members have finished bilateral negotiations with China, 21 EU members have not as yet concluded negotiation with our country. Following the bilateral accord reached between China and the United States, these members have all expressed their intention to speed up the process of negotiation with China, so as to enable China to join the WTO at an early date.

Thirdly, it helps to bring about an all-round development in Sino-US economic and trade cooperation, it helps to spur the entire Sino-US relationship to advance along a healthy and stable path.

Over the past 21 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, economic and trade ties between the two countries have achieved significant development. During this period, bilateral trade volume has grown by 50 times to reach US$55.549 billion between January and November 1999. At present, the United States is the second largest trade partner of China, while China is the fourth largest trade partner of the United States. In recent years, the investments made by US enterprises in China have continued to expand, the number of investment projects has topped 28,000, and contracted value ranked first among various countries. The United States has become one of the main targets of China's development of foreign economic and technological cooperation. Sino-US economic and trade cooperation has become an important foundation and motive force in the relations between the two countries. China and the United States have different industrial structures and a strong economic complementarity, there is great potential for the two countries to develop economic and trade, and scientific and technological exchange and cooperation.

However, Sino-US economic and trade ties are subject to various restraints and influence and have experienced fluctuations and twists and turns, in the past decade, in particular, there is no lack of conflicts. Of which the question of the US Congress' annual discussion on China's MFN status (now renamed as normal trade relations) is an unstable factor that has long plagued Sino-US economic and trade ties, as well as dark clouds hanging over the political relationship between the two countries. But in the recent negotiation, the US government made a clear-cut promise to the Chinese side that it would try its utmost to solve the question regarding China's status of permanent normal trade relations. We hope the US side will fulfill its promise and bring about a rapid and thorough solution to the question regarding China's status of permanent normal trade relations. This will exert positive and far-reaching influence on the expansion of Sino-US economic and trade cooperation and the improvement and development of the entire relationship between the two countries.

Fourthly, it will inject fresh vigor into the development and prosperity of the world economy.

China's early entry into the WTO will provide the trade partners in various countries and regions with a more relaxed and transparent investment environment and a more extensive and stable market access opportunity. This is, without a doubt, conducive to the prosperity and development of the world economy and trade in the new century. China's economic aggregate ranks seventh and its trade volume 10th in the world and it has become the second largest absorber of foreign capital in the world for many years running. China has become an important force promoting the growth of the world economy. China's accession to the WTO will make this organization more complete and is beneficial to the stability and development of international trade. China's promotional and stabilizing role in the regional and world economies has been fully expressed in the Asian financial crisis over the past two years. At the same time, after its accession to the WTO, China will conscientiously fulfill its promise to the outside world, abide by publicly acknowledged multilateral trading rules, take an active part in the formulation of international trading rules and will thereby make still greater contribution to the establishment of a fair and reasonable international economic new order.