Lamy to brief Chinese leaders on trade talks
Sunday, 17 June 2007
GENEVA, June 16 (AFP): World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy will seek to ensure Chinese leaders support key WTO talks during a visit to Beijing next week, his spokesman said yesterday.
Lamy is to meet top Chinese leaders and the ministers of trade, agriculture and finance during a three-day trip that starts Monday, Keith Rockwell said.
His visit coincides with a meeting in Germany of four major powers-Brazil, the European Union, India and the United States-aimed at breaking the deadlock in the Doha round of trade liberalisation talks that are supposed to help lift developing countries out of poverty.
"We are at a very crucial stage in the negotiations," Rockwell said.
Lamy sought "to understand fully China's concerns and make sure that they are fully briefed about the process here in Geneva," where the WTO is based.
The organisation's 150 members are striving to wrap up a round of talks that has defied intensive efforts and stretched well beyond a target date of 2004 for an agreement.
Although it is a major global trading power, China has remained in the background and allowed Brazil and India to spearhead the interests of developing nations around the world.
But Beijing, which joined the WTO in late 2001, has also been singled out by the United States and the European Union as being at fault regarding industrial subsidies, intellectual property rights or customs duties on spareparts for automobiles.
Lamy is to meet top Chinese leaders and the ministers of trade, agriculture and finance during a three-day trip that starts Monday, Keith Rockwell said.
His visit coincides with a meeting in Germany of four major powers-Brazil, the European Union, India and the United States-aimed at breaking the deadlock in the Doha round of trade liberalisation talks that are supposed to help lift developing countries out of poverty.
"We are at a very crucial stage in the negotiations," Rockwell said.
Lamy sought "to understand fully China's concerns and make sure that they are fully briefed about the process here in Geneva," where the WTO is based.
The organisation's 150 members are striving to wrap up a round of talks that has defied intensive efforts and stretched well beyond a target date of 2004 for an agreement.
Although it is a major global trading power, China has remained in the background and allowed Brazil and India to spearhead the interests of developing nations around the world.
But Beijing, which joined the WTO in late 2001, has also been singled out by the United States and the European Union as being at fault regarding industrial subsidies, intellectual property rights or customs duties on spareparts for automobiles.