U.S. China reach consensus over WTO entry

Rober Zoellick and Shi Guangsheng reach "censensus"

BEIJING, China -- The U.S. and China have reached a consensus on issues over China's entry to the World Trade Organization as early as this year.

During an APEC summit in Shanghai last week, Chinese Minister for Foreign Trade Shi Guangsheng and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick had sideline talks about China's WTO membership, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

Shi was quoted as saying both parties reached "a complete consensus" over the remaining issues over multilateral negotiations about the entry, a move that "created important conditions" to speed up the negotiations.

The meeting brought China one step closer to concluding a 15-year long quest to enter the WTO.

A spokeswoman at the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai confirmed to CNN Saturday the agreement was reached.

"The United States and China agree that we should now work together in Geneva to complete WTO accession (for China). We will work with other WTO members to build on the consensus we reached in Shanghai," the spokeswoman read from a statement.

"APEC Ambassador Zoellick stated that this is a 'win-win' result for China."

Washington is clearly lobbying for China's WTO entry as soon as is feasible.

The U.S. already has a bilateral trade agreement with China. But since multi-lateral talks over China's WTO entry stalled in January, Washington has been coaching Beijing to work out necessary concessions to take.

One item on the agenda for Zoellick and Chinese Trade Minister Shi was agricultural subsidies.

While Washington wants Beijing to lower such subsidies, Beijing wants to support farm product prices at 10 percent of their total value to protect the country's huge rural population.

During the APEC ministerial summit, Zoellick told CNN that there may be room for compromise.

Zoellick said that despite enthusiasm for China's WTO entry, quality in the agreement should take precedence over speed.

He added that the Chinese economy is so large that it wouldn't work if China joins WTO before mapping out the details.

CNN's Lisa Rose Weaver contributed to this report.