BEIJING -- Talks on China's bid to join the World Trade Organization have entered the final stage, with a deal possibly in reach after 13 years of fitful negotiations, Commerce Secretary William Daley said Monday.
"We are getting down to the final sort of negotiations. There has been great progress," Daley told reporters after a day of talking trade with Chinese leaders. "We are all cautiously optimistic that a deal can be done."U.S. and Chinese trade officials were trying to reach a WTO agreement in time for Premier Zhu Rongji's trip to Washington next week. In a sign that a deal could be close, Washington's top trade negotiator, Trade Representative Charlene Barshefksy, arrived late Monday to spur on the latest talks.
Daley, who began a five-day trade mission to China on Sunday, said the Chinese also "would like to do a deal." But he cautioned that important differences remained and that the talks could stumble.
"As in any good negotiations, sometimes the most difficult issues are left to the very end," he said. He added that those issues include agriculture, subsidies and other rules of WTO membership.
Barshefsky's spokesman said substantial roadblocks remain and that no part of the complex negotiations had been concluded. China still needs to make new offers if a deal was to be struck before Zhu's visit, he said.
"We're certainly not there yet," said the spokesman, Jay Ziegler. "There are substantial and critical issues to resolved in all areas."
Aside from Premier Zhu, Barshefsky will also meet Tuesday with Wu Yi, China's former trade minister and now a senior Cabinet member whom Daley met Monday.
Daley, who is not part of the negotiating team, discussed WTO issues with Premier Zhu, who has recently taken a personal interest in China's efforts to join the Geneva-based body that sets world trade rules.
China has tried to join the WTO and its predecessor since 1986, but has balked over U.S. insistence of broad access to Chinese markets and fears that foreign competition would swamp struggling state industries.
A WTO deal would create a more stable, rule-governed market for foreign investors grown increasingly frustrated with Chinese bureaucracy and other trade barriers. It would also cement Zhu's reputation as a reformer and help shore up strained relations with the United States.
Zhu's Washington trip comes as suspicions that Beijing may have stolen U.S. nuclear secrets have exacerbated disagreements on human rights, Taiwan, regional military issues and China's trade surplus with the United States.
Daley urged Zhu to address the spying allegations and human rights while Zhu criticized the U.S.-led NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
The Clinton administration would not let tensions on those issues stand in the way of trying to get a WTO deal, possibly in time for Zhu's Washington summit April 8.
"If the deal is right we will complete it, if not before the visit, after the visit," Daley said.