China Working Vigorously to Reduce Trade Surplus with Czech: MinisterChinese Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) Shi Guangsheng said Friday, December 8, that China has been working vigorously to reduce its trade surplus with the Czech Republic, and the efforts have paid off.Shi told Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade for the Czech Republic Jiri Maceska, who is here for the fourth conference of the China-Czech Mixed Committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation, that China noticed the trade imbalance and its imports from the Czech Republic have increased sharply. China's imports from the Czech Republic were recorded at 72.3 million U.S. dollars in 1999, up 177.4 percent from a year earlier. Out of the total trade volume of US$385 million between January and October this year, China imported UD%68.6 million worth of Czech goods, up 27.3 percent from the same period last year. Shi said China is thankful for the support from the Czech Republic for China's accession to the World Trade Organization. The two sides reached a bilateral deal in 1997. Maceska said the Czech side hopes China can join the WTO as early as possible, and will continue to support China on multilateral issues. He said his country will also work closely with China to improve the level of trade and economic cooperation. |
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