China has made a comprehensive set of commitments extending from distribution to insurance, telecommunications, architecture, engineering, legal, travel and tourism, computer and business services, environmental services, franchising and direct sales, and more. These are a very broad set of commitments. They may well bring opposition from vested interests at home in China. But other countries have made comparable commitments, and China is entirely capable of making them as well. Remaining Finally on the WTO accession, the work is not yet done.
Some important issues remain unresolved in the services field, and in the Protocol as well.
As in all accessions, conclusion depends on the acceding government, and China of course must meet the concerns of other WTO members apart from ourselves. But the issues which remain are limited, and I am confident that the trade policy challenges they raise can be resolved. At the same time, however, the political environment surrounding the WTO talks, of course, is clearly complicated by events outside trade policy. Most notably, we have held no formal negotiations with the Chinese since the accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade a month ago. Our colleagues in other agencies are preparing a report on the event, which they will review with the Chinese on completion.