EU raises trade and human rights issues with China

BEIJING, China -- Leaders from China and the European Union have met to discuss unresolved "issues" delaying Beijing's proposed entry into the World Trade Organisation.

EU leaders who gathered for a one-day summit on Monday in Beijing fear that China's entry could be delayed until next year because of outstanding negotiations over trade and human rights issues.

The EU wants China to ratify two U.N. conventions it signed in 1997 and 1998 on economic, social and cultural rights and on civil and political rights.

"We want China in the WTO at the earliest opportunity, but there are remaining issues," EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said.

Lamy, who headed the EU team in months of tough bilateral negotiations with China, said the two sides had settled all "essential" problems and only had to iron out details.

"There remain a certain number of details to settle as much on the level of EU-China relations as on the multilateral level," he said.

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said: "Our country will abide by its commitments and further open up domestic markets and open up in a step-by-step manner banking, insurance, telecommunications, foreign and internal trade, tourism and other service sectors."

French President Jacques Chirac, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, said the EU-China bilateral WTO pact signed in May must be "respected to the full, especially with regard to agreed dates and fixed timetables."

Lamy described the bilateral issues as "fine details on which we must reach agreement, on the allocation of insurance licences and on access to the distribution system."

"On the multilateral level, there are a certain number of regulations that China must introduce to its legislative system," he said, adding that that was a job for international law specialists. "It's not insurmountable," he said.

Lamy's remarks echoed those of U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky, who earlier this month expressed concerns that China's 14-year bid to join the WTO was stalling after the latest round of multilateral talks made little progress.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the EU would tell China that Europe's economic fundamentals were good, despite the disappointing performance of the euro.

China originally welcomed the creation of the European currency as an alternative to the U.S. dollar, but Chinese officials say weakness in the euro has made Beijing hesitate about increasing the proportion of the unit in its reserves.

The EU also wants Beijing to stem the flow of illegal immigrants from China and discuss the possibility of European countries sending back those people caught.

In June 58 Chinese immigrants suffocated at the port of Dover, England, after seeking to enter Britain illegally in the back of a truck.

Reuters contributed to this report.

European Union
Foreign Ministry of People's Republic of China
World Trade Organisation

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