China, U.S. agree on pushing foward with Doha trade round this year

Source: Xinhua | 12-05-2008 08:57

BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Commerce Minister Chen Deming said on Thursday that China and the United States agreed to push forward on completion of the Doha trade round by the end of December.

"China expressed willingness to show its good faith and flexibility in the next phase of the Doha round negotiations and hoped the U.S. side will do the same," Chen said at a news briefing on the fifth China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue.

He said China and the United States are both members of the G7,the key group comprising the most important members of the World Trade organization (WTO), so it is very important for the two countries to reach some principal agreements over the Doha round talks.

The Doha round was launched seven years ago. However, it hit a deadlock at a ministerial meeting in July amid differences between the United States and India over measures to safeguard subsistence farmers in poor countries from a surge in imports.

Despite their consensus, China and the United States still have different concerns over the trade negotiation.

"The U.S. side emphasized concerns over agriculture and NAMA [non- agricultural market access] issues, but the Chinese side stressed that the negotiations should pay more attention to the difficulties and concerns of developing countries," he said.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said on Wednesday that a meeting of ministers, which would try to secure a breakthrough in the Doha round, would be possible around Dec. 13 to 15.

Editor:Zheng Limin