GENEVA International trade negotiators said on Tuesday that China's 14-year-old bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) was making progress but was unlikely to be completed before well into next year.
The officials, from several of the WTO's 140 member nations, were speaking after the start of four days of talks in the WTO working party that has been the central forum for the discussions since they were launched in 1986.
"Things are moving, and we hope we can get more issues agreed this week, but it's likely to be a few more months before they (the Chinese) are finally in," said one envoy closely involved in the negotiations.
Earlier, China's veteran chief negotiator Long Yongtu told reporters he believed success in the marathon effort to shape an entry accord that all WTO states could accept was "not far away". he added: "I think the momentum is there." Both developed and developing countries in the five-year-old body are keen to ensure that there are no loopholes in the final pact which will bring the world's most populous nation and its vast production power into the mainstream of world trade.
Many smaller powers fear that a flood of Chinese goods could undermine their industries and agricultural producers if Beijing comes under the umbrella of the WTO's open trading rules.
Beijing Buoyed by November Accords Although Beijing was buoyed by agreement in November on draft deals in four of the 11 issues that must be included in a final entry pact, Chinese sources indicated that their delegation realized there was still much work ahead.
At Tuesday's meeting, diplomats said, it was agreed this week's talks would cover all the areas that must be included in highly detailed texts which will set out China's rights and obligations once it becomes a member.
"We will discuss all the issues but whether we can move ahead is not clear at this stage," said a U.S. delegation official.
An official from the European Union said there were "a number of big issues" in services an area that the two major trading powers hoped had been settled in separate bilateral agreements already reached with Beijing.
Since then it had become clear that there were differences between China and the United States and EU on interpretation of some aspects of those accords, diplomats said.
Among the problems are the Chinese definition of chain stores, which U.S. and EU officials say could limit foreign participation in distribution networks, including automobile dealerships.
The EU is also known to be seeking clear Chinese assurances on access to China's potentially lucrative market for large-scale risk insurance.
Diplomats said the text of a basic agreement on agriculture had been prepared but strong disagreement remained, with the 18-nation Cairns Group of Farm Producers pressing hard for China to agree to restrain domestic support schemes.
Beijing also has yet to complete bilateral agreements with Mexico and Panama two of the some 40 WTO nations that sought such pacts to ensure their own interests were covered in a final deal.
(Reuter)