Talks on China's bid to join the WTO may wind up next week, clearing the way for the most-populous nation to enter the trade body as early as this year, the lead US negotiator said.
Jeffrey Bader, assistant US trade representative for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said next week's session in Geneva should complete the schedule for China cutting tariffs on insurance and other financial services.
"We hope at the end of next week that there won't be an awful lot left and that it will ideally only require one more working party to finish it up. But that will be up to China," Bader told reporters after testifying before the House Ways and Means trade subcommittee.
China has been negotiating for 15 years to join the 141-nation WTO and its predecessor organization. Its efforts stalled last year when the government's foot-dragging on farm trade and allowing unfettered market access caused talks to break down.
The effort got a boost last month when US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick hammered out an agreement in Shanghai that addressed China's concerns yet still ensured WTO members access to China's markets.
Bader said among the remaining issues are a US push to ensure that insurance companies currently operating in China -- such as American International Group and New York Life Insurance Co -- can continue on the same basis after China joins the WTO.
Further discussions with the EU will be needed, Bader said, and he voiced confidence that the issue will be resolved and China will be able to join the WTO this year.
Bader testified before the subcommittee on the Bush administration's request that Congress extend for another year "normal trade relations" with China, under which the country gets preferential access to the US market for most goods and services.
The two nations did US$116 billion worth of trade last year, resulting in a record US$84 billion US deficit with China.
Nevertheless, Dana Rohrabacher, a California Democrat, likened China to Nazi Germany, saying it tortures and kills its own citizens.
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