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Supachai: China Could Join WTO by Next Year
China could join the World Trade Organisation by the beginning of next year, the incoming chief of the trade body said on Thursday.
But the drafting of the accession protocol for China's entry would take at least six months to complete, said Supachai Panitchpakdi, Thailand's former deputy prime minister who will become director-general of the WTO in 2002.
"If China cannot join by this November, then maybe the end of the year, maybe the beginning of next year," Supachai told a business seminar in Beijing.
"The normal time frame which would be needed for this protocol, which is so elaborate, would be six months on the basis of good preparation," he said, though work had already started on the document.
Some WTO members had been pushing for China to join before the body holds its next ministerial meeting in November in Qatar, when members could launch another global trade round.
Consideration of whether to launch a new WTO round had drawn attention away from China's entry bid, Supachai said. However, he played down setting a deadline for China to enter, saying a good multilateral agreement was more important.
"For China, the deadline of the new round or the deadline of the ministerial meeting in Qatar has become much less relevant than before," Supachai said.
"I don't think there should be any timing arrangement or that China should be tied to any date," he said. "Rather than looking at the timing, I would recommend we look at the contents of this commitment."
FLEXIBILITY SEEN ON AGRICULTURE China could take more time to implement much-needed reforms while preparing its domestic economy for WTO membership while members could ensure the final agreement ushering China into the trade body was satisfactory, Supachai said.
A US official said this week it could take until the end of the year before China becomes a member of the WTO, even if the two countries were to resolve a dispute over the thorny issue of agricultural subsidies.
China's chief WTO negotiator Long Yongtu said on Monday the two countries were edging toward an agreement over the level of Beijing's subsidies to farmers.
Supachai said it appeared both sides were prepared to be flexible on the issue.
WTO members would discuss in July the possibility of launching a new trade round at the Qatar ministerial meeting in November.
"In July this year we will be discussing a preliminary proposal from the WTO with regards to the initial statement for Qatar," Supachai said.
"If that draft statement is agreeable to the member countries...then we would know with more certainty that there will be a new round launched in Qatar."
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