China, India sign WTO deal

Asian Economic News, Feb 28, 2000

BEIJING, Feb. 22 Kyodo

China and India inked a bilateral deal on China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Chinese media reported Tuesday.

Chinese state-run television said Chinese Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng inked the deal with Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Murasoli Maran in Beijing earlier in the day.

Trade between India and China amounts to some $2 billion annually, and an Indian official expressed hope the deal will double bilateral trade over the next three years.

By comparison, China's trade with Japan was $66 billion in 1999.

The deal leaves 13 WTO members with which China needs to reach an agreement before joining the world trade body, including the EU, which said Tuesday progress in its negotiations with China was "not sufficient."

The list also includes large developing countries such as Argentina, Malaysia, Mexico and Thailand.

WTO Director General Mike Moore said last Friday that China's bilateral negotiations with all of the remaining members were "very close" to conclusion.