99-4918 MOREPRESS RELEASE
PRESS/148
15 November 1999
DIRECTOR-GENERAL MOORE WELCOMES US-CHINA DEAL,
BUT CAUTIONS MORE WORK  REMAINS ON CHINA'S ENTRY
World Trade Organization Director-General Mike Moore warmly welcomed the U.S.-China
accord on Chinese accession to the WTO, but he cautioned that substantial work remained before
Beijing becomes a member of the organization. The Director-General expressed confidence that this
work could be completed in a relatively short period of time.
The bilateral agreement on market access is significant, Mr. Moore said, given the size and
importance of the two economies. Moreover, he sai d, the deal announced in Beijing today would give
increased momentum to China's accession negotiations with other WTO member governments.
"This is a major step forward in China's accession to the WTO. I have said many times that
we are not a World Trade Organization until China has joined. China must still reach agreement with
other member governments and we need to complete important technical talks before China can take
her rightful place at the table of great trading nations. But this significant breakthrough has certainly
given this process real momentum. A door to history has been opened and now member governments
must walk through it together,"  Mr. Moore said.
The Director-General said he hoped this important agreement would also stimulate
breakthroughs in accession talks with the other 30 governments negotiating to join the WTO. While
stressing the importance of candidates joining on a sound commercial and legal basis, Mr. Moore said
it was vital that as many governments as possible be granted accession in the very near future.1
                                                     
1 The candidates for WTO accession are Albania, Algeria, A ndorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia Herzegovina,
Bhutan, Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, Croatia, Jordan, K azakhstan, Lao People’s Democratic Re public, Lebanon,
Lithuania, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Nepal, Oman, Russian Federation, Samoa, Saudi Arabia,
Seychelles, Sudan, Chinese Taipei, Tonga, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam.PRESS/148
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END"Governments representing 1.5 billion people are working hard to join us. Virtually all of
these governments represent developing countries or economies in transition. This is a strongreferendum in support of this organization as an important tool in development, growth and better
jobs. Bringing these governments into the multilateral trading system ranks among my top priorities,"
Mr. Moore said.
China, which has been negotiating entry into the WTO and its predecessor organization the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade for 13 years, must conclude  bilateral market access
agreements  with dozens of other member governments. Following completion of these bilateral talks,
the process moves to a multilateral setting in Geneva where member governments must agree on
technical protocol of accession issues. These discussions, held in the WTO's Working Party on
Chinese accession, centre on establishing the legal framework for China's entry.
Given the substantial amount of preparatory work involved, a meeting of this Working Party
will not be convened until after the WTO's 3
rd Ministerial Conference in Seattle 30 November-3
December. Mr. Moore said China's status as an observer nation at the Ministerial Conference will take
on much greater meaning following the agreement in Beijing.
The Seattle meeting of trade ministers from the 135 WTO member governments will set the
agenda for trade negotiations over the next few years in agriculture, services and perhaps other
sectors.