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China says WTO membership not far away

BEIJING: China is in the final stages of negotiating its entry to the World Trade Organisation and full membership is not far away, foreign trade minister Shi Guangsheng said on Monday.

"We are at the final, concluding stage in our negotiations with a few members, including the EU, that have yet to reach bilateral agreements with us," he said in a statement. "It won't be long before China becomes a full WTO member."

European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy is due in Beijing during the week beginning March 27 to resume talks on China's accession to the WTO.

Shi's statement gave no hint of what was holding up an agreement with the EU, the last major WTO member not yet to have agreed terms for China's accession.

The last session of EU-China talks ended without agreement last month on Beijing's 14-year quest for membership in the body which sets global trade rules.

An EU spokesman said last week Lamy would go to Beijing "in the hope that we will be able to finalise a bilateral deal".

-Reuters