Joint United States-China Statement: Status of Negotiations on China's Accession to the World Trade Organization

On the occasion of the official visit of the Premier of the Government of the People's Republic of China Premier Zhu Rongji, to the United States, President of the United States William Jefferson Clinton and Premier Zhu Rongji jointly affirm that China's admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is in the interest of the United States, the People's Republic of China, and the global trading system. To that end, they welcome the significant progress made by the United States and the People's Republic of China toward a strong agreement based on a balance of rights and obligations. Noting that agreement has not been reached on some important issues, they commit to work to resolve these remaining issues through further bilateral negotiations in order to conclude a strong agreement as the basis for the accession of the People's Republic of China to the WTO.

President Clinton and Premier Zhu recognize the complexity of WTO accession negotiations. In this regard, they note that agreement has been reached on market access for agricultural and industrial goods as well as a wide range of services sectors, as set out in Attachment 1, but that certain matters remain to be resolved in banking, including consumer auto finance, as well as securities and audio visual services. They further welcome the conclusion of the Sino-U.S. Agricultural Cooperation Agreement, especially the resolution of bilateral issues concerning imports by the People's Republic of China of U.S. citrus, meat products, and Pacific Northwest wheat, as set out in Attachment 2. President Clinton and Premier Zhu note agreement has been reached on a variety of important rules to be applicable to the WTO, concerning trading rights, technology transfer and offsets, state enterprises, and subsidies, as set out in Attachment 3. However, they recognize that certain differences remain to be resolved on a mechanism to ensure implementation, the duration of provisions governing dumping and product safeguards, and rules governing textiles trade.

President Clinton and Premier Zhu welcome this significant progress and instruct their trade ministers to resume bilateral negotiations in order to satisfactorily resolve the important remaining issues as soon as possible in support of the common goal of admission of the People's Republic of China to the WTO on strong commercial terms in 1999.