A US government report said on Monday that the United States has benefited "significantly" from China's entry into WTO during the past five years.

 

"The United States -- including US workers, businesses, farmers, service providers and customers -- has benefited significantly from these steps (by China) and continue to do so as US- China trade grows," said the annual report released by the US Trade Representative Office (USTR).

 

The report, presented to Congress on Monday, also noted that China has made broad progress in implementing its World Trade Organization obligations.

 

"China has taken significant and often impressive steps to reform its economy since acceding to the WTO five years ago," said the report.

 

"The United States and China have both benefited greatly from our growing trade relationship, and China's participation in the rules-based international trading system has aided China greatly as it transforms itself into a modern commercial power," said US Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab on Monday.

 

But she also said: "China has taken many important steps to implement its WTO obligations, but on the fifth anniversary of its WTO membership, China's overall record is decidedly mixed."

 

The US government will continue to work cooperatively and pragmatically with China on WTO implementation issues in bilateral forums such as the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, said the USTR in a statement.

 

The administration will also work on strengthening commitment to the WTO's underlying economic principles through the newly created Strategic Economic Dialogue, said the statement.

 

Since China entered the World Trade Organization on Dec. 11, 2001, exports of US goods to China have grown by 190 percent and China has gone from being the United States' fifteenth to fourth largest export market, according to the statement.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2006)