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Statement
by H.E. Vice Minister LONG Yongtu, Head of the Chinese Delegation, at
the seventeenth session of the Working Party on China
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I would like
to take this opportunity to welcome the Delegation of China and
Members of the Working Party to this 17th Meeting of the Working Party
on the Accession of China.
In
the course of informal meetings this week, we have been able to
conclude work on almost all elements of China's accession package.
This is indeed welcome news and all concerned are to be heartily
congratulated for their untiring efforts and resulting success.
Let
me briefly summarize what we have achieved.
First,
in regard to the Draft Working Party Report, we have reached agreement
on a final, comprehensive text, ready for adoption. Only one point, in
the area of services, remains.
Turning
to the Draft Protocol of Accession, here, too, we have completed our
work. In addition, newly revised and updated annexes were submitted to
the Working Party by China, and these in the areas of State Trading,
Non-Tariff Measures, Price Controls and Export Duties. After
multilateral examination, these revised annexes were approved by the
Working Party. Consensus was also reached on a revised annex dealing
with Information for the Transitional Review Mechanism. The only annex
on which a small amount of work remains to be done is that dealing
with Reservations by WTO Members. It is my expectation that this annex
will be completed in the coming days.
Finally,
there is the issue of China's Goods and Services Schedules. With the
background work done this week, the Secretariat will now be in a
position to circulate both draft Schedules, in accordance with normal
accession procedures, by the end of this month. These Schedules should
be examined by Members of the Working Party and China for technical
verification. Proposals for technical corrections, if any, should be
received by the Secretariat no later than 10 August for onward
transmission to Members of the Working Party and China.
To
conclude, this 17th Working Party has allowed us to virtually complete
our consideration and approval of all aspects of China's accession
package. It is clear that this outcome could not have occurred without
your tremendous efforts and unwavering dedication to this process.
The
Secretariat will shortly issue revised drafts of the Working Party
Report and Protocol of Accession, including all Annexes. We should
then plan to come back to Geneva for a final session of the Working
Party in September. At this stage, I can already confirm that we will
meet in the week of 10 September. Nearer the time, I will inform you
of the precise arrangements for the meeting. If we can keep to this
tight schedule, and I certainly hope that we can, Ministers should
then be able to gavel the terms of China's entry into the WTO at Doha
this coming November. |
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