Pascal Lamy visits China to strengthen trade relations

Brussels, 11 June 2003

EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy will visit China on 13 June 2003. The trip provides an excellent opportunity to discuss with the newly appointed Chinese leadership the on-going talks under the WTO the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) and examine means to reinforce EU-China co-operation ahead of the WTO Ministerial meeting in Cancun in September. The visit will also offer an opportunity to discuss with China the progress to date in implementing the terms of its accession to the WTO and trade matters of bilateral interests, including the up-coming EU enlargement. On the eve of his departure Mr. Lamy said: "China has become a key EU partner and together we can make an enormous contribution to keeping the Doha Development Agenda steaming ahead. Close collaboration is also going to be increasingly vital to address the specific trade problems we may face. I look forward to discussing all these matters with the new government."

Mr. Lamy will explore with his Chinese counterparts how to better pursue shared objectives within the Doha Development Agenda, in which both the EU and China have called for a balanced outcome benefiting both developed and developing countries, and comprising both rules as well as market access commitments. The visit will also provide an occasion to discuss the progress made by China in implementing the commitments undertaken upon WTO accession, a number of bilateral trade issues, in particular in sanitary and phytosanitary field, as well the trade-related aspects of the upcoming EU enlargement.

Commissioner Lamy will meet senior government leaders including the Prime Minister Mr. Jiabao Wen as well as other high-ranking officials including Minister Lu Fuyuan of the recently created Ministry of Commerce and Minister Li Changjiang of the State Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine (Aqsiq). He will also deliver a speech at the European Union Chamber of Commerce to China.

Background

China acceded to the WTO at the fifth WTO Ministerial Conference which took place in Doha (Qatar) in November 2001 and where the negotiations for the Doha Development Agenda were launched.

Pascal Lamy's last visit to China took place in October 2002.

China is the EU's third largest trading partner, after the USA and Switzerland. The main EU imports from China consist of machinery, transport equipment, textiles and chemicals.

For more information go to:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/bilateral/china/index_en.htm

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