Trade Compass: Daily Brief / Vol. 48, Issue 6
Budapest - The Director General of the World Trade Organization, Mike Moore, on May 5 called on the United States Congress to vote for permanent trade relations with China.
He said this would give American business the benefits of a more open China and better access to an economy of 1.3 billion consumers.
Mr Moore added: "I urge Congress to welcome China into the world trading order at a time when it is showing a genuine commitment to profound economic reform, rather than leaving it out in the cold, nursing grievances."
Addressing more than 1,000 business leaders from every part of the world at the World Congress of the International Chamber of Commerce, Mr Moore described China's decision to join the WTO as momentous.
By opening its markets to foreign trade and investment, China would become a richer and more open place, Mr Moore said. Chinese commitment to world trade rules would entrench market-based reforms and strengthen the rule of law. Giving Beijing a seat at the WTO table would give the country a stake in defending the world trading system.
"A more open China is good for the rest of the world too. Business will get better access to an economy of 1.3 billion consumers that is growing at 8% a year," the WTO Director General said. "Everyone will benefit from a more stable and peaceful China."
Mr Moore noted that WTO member countries would have recourse to the organization's dispute settlement procedures to make sure that China sticks to its commitments.
However, American business would only get these benefits if Congress voted for permanent trade relations with China.
SOURCE: ICC:
