China's performance in living up to its World Trade Organization (WTO) entry commitments is quite impressive, though the country must still gear up to crack the remaining hard nuts, said Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, the organization's director-general.

Supachai was speaking on the opening day of the 8th annual Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Forum, hosted by Businessweek in Beijing on Tuesday.

He said that China's first year in the WTO had been difficult due to having to translate piles of documents from English, but that since then the situation had improved substantially.

But that should not be interpreted as meaning that China has settled all of the thorny issues relating to the fulfillment of its WTO commitments, he added.

"For instance, in terms of intellectual property right protection, China has to strengthen its efforts to make sure all WTO requirements are fully carried out." In some sectors, particularly retail, there are "still various obstacles confronting foreign companies when they choose to enter the local market."

Supachai was pleased that, "Instead of snatching jobs from other economies, China is helping create more employment opportunities for other countries. In fact, China's neighboring countries, especially Japan and Southeast Asian countries, benefit a lot from China's economic boom."

Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai, after meeting the director-general, said China pledged to address the concerns of other developing countries, especially underdeveloped countries, for common development of the textile trade after textile quotas are removed next year.

According to the Agreement of Textile and Clothing signed in 1994 during the Uruguay Round, WTO members will replace quotas on textiles and clothing with tariffs starting January 1, 2005.

Bo said that China's textile exports may increase to a certain degree, but not as much as some organizations or individuals have predicted. He also expressed China's expectation for early recognition of full market economy status and hope that the WTO Secretariat will help in this.

Supachai also briefed Bo about the WTO's 2005 agenda and hoped the 6th WTO ministerial meeting to be held in Hong Kong can lay solid foundations for the conclusion of negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda.

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2004)