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12th Session on China's WTO Accession Concludes
China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be based on the balance between rights and obligations, a Chinese senior trade official said Thursday.
"We cannot accept provisions which are detrimental to China's legitimate rights under WTO," Long Yongtu, China's Chief Trade Negotiator, said at the 12th session of the Working Party on China's WTO Accession.
"What we care about most is not the specific timing of accession, but the terms of accession. The results of the negotiations shall on the whole ensure China's accession is based on the balance between rights and obligations," he added.
Long's points of view were echoed by Pakistani Ambassador Munir Akram at the meeting, who told reporters that some member states were making unreasonable demands which are inconsistent with their bilateral agreements with China.
He urged the multilateral talks on China's entry into WTO to abide by WTO rules, avoid infringement of China's sovereignty and observe China's status as a developing country.
Chairman of the Working Party Pierre Girard said that the discussions over the past two weeks marked "another important step in the process of China's WTO accession".
He said he hoped that the next session, possibly to be held late October or early November, will achieve substantial improvement.
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