China’s Support for Farmers Slows WTO Talks

China won’t sacrifice income support for farmers in talks this week to join the World Trade Organization, officials and analysts said. China’s level of farm support is lower than in more developed countries such as the United States, said Ke Bingsheng, a Ministry of Agriculture official. Rural incomes in China grew just 2% in 2000 compared with 7% for city dwellers, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, and China says it needs to support farmers to close the income gap with urban workers. Members of the 140-nation WTO are meeting in Geneva through Wednesday to work on an agreement on how much China must open its markets to join the group that governs international trade. Monday’s talks ended with delegates failing to break the deadlock over agricultural support and foreign access to the country’s service industries.