Mr. Chairman,I
am very pleased to lead the Chinese Delegation to Geneva
at the seventh time this year to participate the
fourteenth session of the Working Party on China's
accession to the WTO and to continue the discussions on
the multilateral legal documents on China's WTO accession
with the Working Party members.
At
the outset, I would like to express my heartfelt
gratitude to the acting Chairman of the Working Party and
Deputy Director-General of the WTO, Mr. Ravier. Under
your able leadership, further substantive progress has
been made on some outstanding issues at this session. My
gratitude also goes to the Chairmen of the plurilateral
groups and the Secretariat for your contributions to the
progress in the multilateral negotiations.
Mr.
Chairman,
I
agree to your assessment on this session. Although this
session is relatively short, the work has been extremely
intensive. Based on the momentum at the multilateral
level brought about by the significant progress achieved
at the last session, further important headway has been
made on some outstanding issues at this session and has
maintained the dynamic momentum of this multilateral
process.
Major
progress has been achieved at this session on NTMs,
industrial policy, licensing procedures and transparency
in services and the texts for multilateral discussions
have been formed.
Under
the guidance of you and the Chairman of the plurilateral
group on TRIPS, the text of the Draft Working Party on
TRIPS has been agreed upon. This is an important result
of this session. It has demonstrated China's consistent
stance to respect intellectual property rights and to
raise the level of its IPR protection.
As
for the remaining issues including trading rights, TBT,
anti-dumping and safeguards, further consultations
between China and the Working Party members are still
needed. I would like to share with you our positions on
these issues.
First,
On trading rights.
China
and the Working Party members have reached agreement on
the relevant text of the Draft Protocol in 1997. China
has also agreed to further clarify and specify in the
Draft Working Party Report the arrangement regarding
gradual liberalization of trading rights in the
transitional period and the granting of national
treatment to foreign enterprises and individuals. I would
like to emphasize that "accorded treatment no less
favorable than that accorded to enterprises in
China" means that foreign enterprises and
individuals should necessarily go through formalities in
order to obtain trading rights as the Chinese enterprises
and individuals do. We can only commit to accord national
treatment, but not "super national treatment",
to foreign enterprises and individuals in this regard.
Second,
On TBT.
Different
national conditions result in differences on the
structure of inspection agencies. China commits to
implement the principle of national treatment in a strict
manner after acceding to the WTO, which will be -through
“one standard, one procedure, one charge and one
mark”. To ensure the implementation of the national
treatment, we have submitted a more detailed and feasible
implementation plan at this session. I hope that the
Working Party members will give realistic and positive
considerations in this regard.
Thirdly,
On the relevant provisions of the Subsidies Agreement and
the Agreement on Agriculture.
As
a developing country, China should fully enjoy the
treatment of the WTO developing country Members after its
accession. This is the fundamental principle of our
accession to the WTO. China will decide whether to apply
and on which conditions to apply the developing countries
provisions in light of its own conditions and needs. I
hope that the Working Party members will pay enough
attention to China's concerns regarding the relevant
developing country provisions of the Subsidies Agreement
and the Agreement on Agriculture. China is willing to
resolve this issue in a fair and balanced manner through
consultations on equal basis.
Fourthly,
On the relevant criteria of anti-dumping and procedure of
product-specific safeguards.
China
believes that it is necessary to establish the relevant
criteria, definition and procedure with regard to these
two issues so as to avoid possible abuse in the future.
It should be noted that certain progress has been made on
product-specific safeguards after the plurilateral group
meeting this week. We are looking forward to working
together with all parties concerned to continue
accelerating the negotiations on this issue.
Fifthly, On market access.
During
the multilateral negotiations, some Members continue to
raise requests in some areas, especially in the areas of
services, which in substance, fall into the scope of
bilateral market access. China will earnestly implement
its commitments in bilateral market access negotiations.
However, these commitments shall be interpreted
accurately and in a manner consistent with the general
practice.
Mr.
Chairman,
After
the protracted process of 14 years, China is still making
unremitting efforts in its WTO accession negotiations
since its WTO accession is in line with China's interests
as well as the common interests of the WTO Members. At
present, every walk of life in China is making
preparations for the WTO accession in an effort to
welcome the new stage of China's opening up to the
outside world. As the focus of the preparations, China is
revising and amending relevant laws, regulations and
rules to meet the WTO requirements. This process is being
accelerated. For instance, China will finish the drafting
the legislation on the protection of layout and design of
integrated circuit upon accession. China is not only
accelerating the revision of its laws, but also putting
more emphasis on the enforcement of laws. The 12-page
plan on the IPR protection worked out at this session
will ensure the comprehensive implementation of IPR laws
and regulations consistent with international practices
in China, which will create important conditions for
further improving China's investment environment and
strengthening China's cooperation with all countries in
the world in the field of hi- and new technology. In
addition, China has made specified and clear commitments
on the administration of import license and licensing
procedures of services, which fully demonstrates China's
resolution and ability on the earnest implementation of
the market access agreements. I believe that through
these efforts, more and more WTO Members have confidence
on China's sincerity and ability of implementing its WTO
commitment. Unfortunately, China still not yet in the
position to implement its specified commitments made in
the bilateral market access negotiations before China
becomes a WTO Member. This is undoubtedly a
disappointment to the business communities of other
countries. This further proves that the early conclusion
of the multilateral negotiations is in the conformity of
the interests of all parties.
Mr.
Chairman,
I
would like to emphasize that at the final stage of
negotiations, particularly when differences are only on
several difficult issues, flexibility should not be only
shown by a single party. China is willing to continue
work with all of you in a pragmatic and flexible
attitude. But China's flexibility will not be meaningful
unless it is fully responded by others. I would like to
reiterate that China would make its utmost efforts to
ensure that its accession is based on the balance between
rights and obligations. This is very important for
safeguarding the integrity of the multilateral trading
system.
It
is fair to say that both China and the WTO Members are
now clear about our respective positions with regard to
the critical elements of the remaining issues. It is time
now to make some important political decisions. I hope
when we come back to Geneva next time, all the parties
concerned will be ready to fulfill the common objective
of China's accession to the WTO.
Thank
you, Mr. Chairman.
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