Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum members plan to call for an agreement on China's entry to the World Trade Organisation to be reached by the end of this year, a senior Asian official said today.
"Member economies will urge the early conclusion of China's WTO accession negotiations as early as possible and by the end of the year," the trade official said, quoting from a draft declaration being prepared for ameeting of APEC trade ministers in Shanghai later this week.
China's 14-year bid to enter the WTO has dominated weekend talks of senior officials from the 21-nation APEC group who will set the Shanghai agenda and lay the groundwork for a summit meeting of APEC leaders in October.
APEC economies generate about 60 per cent of world output and account for about half of global trade. The organisation's agenda is increasingly focused on the WTO and how APEC can contribute to pushing forward the global trade system.
Given that China chairs APEC this year, a strong message of support from these meetings should help the negotiations on the outstanding issues to facilitate China's entry and make progress on launching a new global trade round (in Qatar), the Japanese official said.
Sour diplomatic relations between China and the US are seen as the biggest obstacle to progress, but a hint of warming Sino-US economic ties emerged yesterday after a senior Washington official said diplomatic disagreements with Beijing would not derail WTO talks.
APEC comprisesAustralia, Brunei, Canada, China, Chile, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.