China, in fulfilling its duty as a member of the WTO, will further strengthen the study, popularization and training about WTO knowledge, said State Councilor Luo Gan at the opening session of the International Symposium on WTO and Legal Services.

After a 15-year quest for WTO full membership, China officially entered this largest global trade organization last year.

"China's entry into the WTO will not only greatly promote China's economic reform and development, but also produce significant and profound influences on its legislative, judicial and legal service sectors," said President Jiang Zemin in a letter to the symposium.

Premier Zhu Rongji also said, when meeting some of the symposium's participants that China is willing to learn from the experiences of other countries in the legislative, judicial and legal service sectors.

Miguel Rodriguez Mendoza, WTO Deputy Director-General, said he would promote judicial and legal service co-operation among WTO members, particularly between developed and developing members.

The three-day symposium, sponsored by the Ministry of Justice and the All China Lawyers' Association, has attracted more than 400 scholars, officials and lawyers from home and abroad.

Among all the efforts to come in line with WTO regulations, China has already finished sorting out national regulations and rules that are counter to WTO principles.

After initial pessimism that the market may be lost to stronger competitors from outside China, Chinese law experts, judicial officials and legal service providers now say that China's WTO entry has invited both challenges and opportunities for the country's fledgling but rapidly growing legal service sector.

Minister of Justice Zhang Fusen admitted Wednesday that China's legal services need to improve in professionalism and specialization to compete in the global market.

(China Daily September 19, 2002)