China's WTO accession near

Chinese chief negotiator Long Yongtu will stay in Geneva for the next round of talks

GENEVA, Switzerland -- A senior World Trade Organization official has said a major breakthrough has been achieved in talks on China's accession and that Beijing could join the trade body very soon.

Officials said Wednesday that after six days of talks at WTO headquarters, just about every aspect of terms of membership was settled, clearing the way for China to join the Geneva-based forum after 15 years of knocking at its door.

The statement followed a final negotiating session between officials from the EU, the United States and China to resolve two remaining issues -- small but potentially problematic -- on farm subsidies and insurance.

"I can say we have achieved a major breakthrough on important issues on China's accession," Pierre-Louis Girard, chairman of the WTO working party on Beijing's candidacy, told journalists.

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Summing up a week of final-stretch negotiations on China's bid to join the 141-member-state organization, Girard said the process should be completed very soon.

"As a result of this development I think we can with some confidence envisage a wrapping up of this process, which has lasted now for 15 years, in what I hope will be the very near future," Girard said.

Mountains of paperwork

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The European Union's chief negotiator, Karl Falkenberg, commented that "the process is beginning to look very good."

Chinese chief negotiator Long Yongtu said he would stay in Geneva until the next round of talks, scheduled for the week of July 16, to speed things along.

Even if there is agreement at the next session, the volume of paperwork means that the China working party is unlikely to sign off on the deal before September.

The hope is that China's entry into the WTO can be officially endorsed at November's ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar, to add gloss to what are otherwise likely to be tricky discussions on whether to launch a new round of trade talks following the collapse of the Seattle conference in 1999. "If we can continue in the same spirit, this goal is achievable," said Falkenberg.

China's entry will bring the vast country into the mainstream of world trade. Analysts say admitting China, the world's ninth largest trader, will have a huge impact on the way the global economy and political relationships develop in the coming decades.

It will open wider to foreign firms and suppliers the vast and potentially lucrative Chinese market for goods and services, fired by millions of people who have moved from poverty to relative affluence in the past decade.

But it will also give Chinese exporters guaranteed access, under WTO open trading rules, to markets around the world -- a fact that is ringing alarm bells in some emerging economies, in particular Mexico, where local industries feel under threat.

'Splendid' move

WTO Director-General Mike Moore said in a statement that it would be "a splendid thing" if China could be formally approved in Doha.

If the decision is made in Qatar, China would become a full member early next year. "After going through this long negotiation process we know it is still not time for celebration, and there is still a lot of work before us," said Long.

However, Girard listed a whole series of areas where agreement had been reached, including patents and other intellectual property rights; subsidies; agriculture and antidumping measures.

One of the outstanding arguments over agriculture was apparently resolved Wednesday, relating to concern felt by developing countries about a U.S.-Chinese deal on agricultural subsidies.

Under WTO rules, developing countries have the right to subsidize 10 percent of agricultural output, but Washington refused to accept that figure for China -- saying it was not a developing country. The two nations finally agreed on 8.5 percent.

India, South Korea and Malaysia were concerned that this may set a precedent, and might even prompt the United States to demand stricter subsidy terms for developing countries across the board in the future.

They therefore insisted that the final WTO agreement must contain a sentence stating that the U.S.-China bilateral deal does not set a precedent. Washington rejected this.

No prejudice

Girard said that the wording of the WTO text would make it clear that the agricultural subsidy commitments "are solely those of China and will not prejudice developing countries existing rights or future negotiations."

The biggest remaining problem to finalizing the Chinese terms of entry appeared to be over what constitutes a "branch" of a company, and issue that has caused strife between the United States and the EU.

Beyond the WTO-wide talks, China is still trying to settle a bilateral deal with Mexico.

Other countries waiting to join the 141-nation WTO include Russia, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.