The accession to WTO will "create more favorable international environment for China's reform and opening-up and enables China to play an active and constructive role in the improvement of the multilateral trade system," Shi said.

He noted that in June last year, China held a successful meeting of APEC ministers responsible for trade in Shanghai, which facilitated the launch of a new round of multilateral trade negotiations at the Doha Conference.

China has also made new progress in market diversification by forging closer bilateral ties with the Commonwealth of Independent States, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa, while further boosting economic ties with major trade partners such as the United States, the European Union and Asian countries.

"Progress in this regard has proved to the world that China, with its increased openness, is more poised to participate in globalization," the minister said.

"Facing the new situation brought about by the WTO accession, we shall seize the opportunities and meet challenges by overcoming the adverse impact of global economic sluggishness on China's foreign trade and economic cooperation," he said.

"We will also bring closer economic interactions between China and all countries and regions in the world to promote both China's economic growth and its foreign trade and economic cooperation," the minister added.

(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2002)