China said it would be a responsible member when it joins the WTO and promised to deal fairly with foreign firms seeking to invest in China, an official newspaper reported yesterday.
"After China joins the WTO, it will definitely be a member that acts responsibly and has a constructive effect," the Xinhua Daily Telegraph quoted Long Yongtu, China's pointman on WTO negotiations, as saying on Saturday.
"While enjoying the benefits of being a member of the WTO, China will also perform its relevant duties and abide by the rules of the WTO," Long was quoted as saying at an investment and trade conference in China's southern city of Xiamen.
Long said China would speed up its reform of key sectors including insurance, which has become a focal point in the last stretch of China's negotiations.
Long said that after entering the WTO -- expected no later than early 2002 -- China would allow both the US and European nations to enter China's market favourably.
His statements come at a time when the EU and the US are lobbying to protect the interests of their respective insurance industries as China prepares to open the lucrative sector to foreign investment.
China will "implement fair, transparent and equal trade and investment policies," Long was quoted as saying.
The US on Thursday said it expected China to honor its bilateral market access commitments on insurance as part of any final agreement on its entry into the group.
The global insurance industry has been considering the question of whether China will allow US insurance firm American International Group Inc to own 100 percent of any new operations it opens in China.
As part of its WTO membership negotiations, Beijing negotiated a general 50 percent limit with both the EU and the US on foreign ownership of insurance firms in China.
But because AIG was long established in China, the US negotiated a "grandfather clause" in its 1999 bilateral agreement with China to allow the company to keep its existing wholly owned branches in the country.
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