China Will Join WTO

China and the U.S. have reached an agreement on the unsolved problems of seating China in WTO and the new entry of China into WTO seems to be accomplished by November this year.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick and his Chinese counterpart, Shi Guangsheng, had a five-hour negotiation on the unsolved issues and laid a foundation for the Chinese entry into WTO. The U.S. will support China for admission to the global trade group at the meeting of WTO members in Geneva, June 28.

The content of the agreement was not released to the press but it is known as including the issues of farm subsidies and the opening of the banking and consumers market in China.

China has insisted that it be considered as a developing nation, which would include the right to provide farm subsidies equal to 10 percent of its agricultural output. On the contrary, the U.S. insisted that China should be considered as a developed country with the limit of 5 percent. Both side is reported to agreed on a percentage figure less than 10 percent, but greater than 5 percent.

The White House welcomed the agreement. Zoellick said it is a win-win agreement, which will benefit both countries. EU will resume the negotiation with China for the China`s admission to WTO.

China and the U.S. had continued negotiation on the detail issues such as farm subsidies after they had reached a bilateral agreement related to the Chinese entry into WTO last year.

Lee Jong-Hwan ljhzip@donga.com