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APEC to Contribute to Multilateral Trade Mechanism: Long
China's Chief Trade Representative Long Yongtu told a press briefing concerning the APEC MRT meeting, which opened Wednesday in Shanghai, that the APEC will contribute to the establishment of a global multilateral trading mechanism by doing three major things:
First, trade ministers and officials of the APEC economies will issue a strong statement supporting the launch of a new round of WTO multilateral trade negotiations within 2001 at the ministerial conference of the WTO in Doha, Qatar, in November. The statement will stress the urgency of the launching, Long said.
Since the APEC has an important position in world trade, such a strong statement coming from the forum will serve as a political impetus for the launching, have a direct and profound influence on the ongoing preparation work in Geneva for the launch of a new round and will directly influence what the ambassadors of the WTO member countries and regions will do in the future.
Secondly, he said, APEC should earnestly implement the strategic plans of capacity building for implementing the WTO agreements. The developed economies should strengthen their assistance to the developing economies in respect of economic development so as to enable them to establish a high-quality team to participate in the new round of WTO talks and implement the agreements of the WTO. He said that APEC can play an important role in the field of capacity building for developing economies.
Thirdly, the representatives of the APEC economies to the MRT meeting have agreed that the process of negotiations on China's accession to the WTO should be accelerated. In the WTO, China will play a key role in establishing the global multilateral trade mechanism and become a key element in the process, Long said, adding that no matter whether China joins the WTO or not, it supports the launch of a new round of multilateral trade talks.
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