WTO to Announce Next Round of China Talks

The World Trade Organization will soon announce the next round of multilateral talks on China’s entry, the Xinhua news agency reported, raising hopes China and the United States have resolved their differences. Chinese officials have said a new round of talks with WTO members was delayed by disagreement over its subsidies for agriculture and “unreasonable” demands from some members. In a report from Washington, Xinhua said China and the United States had called for an “early start” for the next round of multilateral talks in Geneva. China’s chief WTO negotiator, Long Yongtu, and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick agreed at a meeting Friday that the next round of talks should be held as soon as possible, the report said. Officials from China’s Ministry of Foreign Trade could not be reached for comment. China and the U.S. met this month in Washington to iron out differences to allow another round of talks, officials from both countries said. A previous round of multilateral talks in Geneva in January failed to resolve outstanding issues that would clear the way for China to join the WTO.