China contributes to Doha round talks: WTO ambassador

Xinhua, March 30, 2011

By honoring its commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO), China has made an above-average contribution to the Doha round of world trade talks, Chinese ambassador to the WTO Yi Xiaozhun said Tuesday.

"China is open to any form of negotiations, as long as those negotiations respect the development demand, build on the progress achieved and center around the multilateral process," Yi said at a WTO Informal Trade Negotiation Committee meeting intended to give a fresh momentum to the decade-long Doha round

Disappointment and anxieties have been spreading among trade representatives in Geneva, as the Doha round talks so far have failed to bridge the gaps among key players, particularly between developed and developing economies.

"The question mark is getting bigger," Yi said, voicing his concern over the lack of substantial progress in the negotiations.

A failed Doha round, he said, would be a big blow, not only to the multilateral trading system, but to the global economy.

He urged relevant countries to get down to earth and be realistic about their ambitions in order to facilitate the negotiations.

Yi reiterated China's firm stance in "trying hardest to take part in negotiations of various forms in a constructive manner."

He stressed the negotiations should not challenge such principles as "participation on a non-mandatory basis" and "special and differential treatment," already endorsed by WTO members.

At the Group of 20 summit in Seoul last year, world leaders pledged to complete the decade-long Doha round by the end of 2011.

In order to seize the "window of opportunity," WTO members have agreed on a roadmap to guide the negotiations, hoping to produce texts in all areas of the negotiations by Easter, a comprehensive package by July, and finalization by the end of this year.