1. News from CND.ORG:
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>1. Landmark WTO Deal Reached Between Beijing and Washington
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>
>[CND, 11/15/99] Beijing and Washington reached a last-minute trade
>agreement, making China closer to become a member of the World Trade
>Organization (WTO), the Geneva-based organization that sets the rules for
>global trade.
>
>Following six days of intense talks, U.S. Trade Representative Charlene
>Barshefsky and Chinese trade minister SHI Guangsheng signed the agreement
>about 3PM Monday. Barshefsky and Shi, along with their lead WTO
>negotiators, economics adviser Gene Sperling and LONG Yongtu,
>respectively, raised glasses of champagne in a toast. Barshefsky then
>left to meet President JIANG Zemin and Premier ZHU Rongji.
>
>The news of the deal sent stock prices in Hong Kong to a two-year high.
>
>The agreement obligates China to cut tariffs an average of 23 percent and
>promises greater access for US telecommunications firms, banks, insurers
>and film-makers, according to a statement from the US Embassy.
>
>A few things still need to happen before China becomes a member of the
>WTO. First, the legislative bodies in both the US and China need to
>approve the agreement to validate it. In Turkey, US President Clinton has
>already called the deal an "excellent agreement" and vowed to mount an
>"all-out effort" to get the US Congress to approve the agreement.
>
>Second, China still need to negotiate and sign agreements with serveral
>other WTO nations, including the European Union (EU).
>
>China has been trying for 13 years to become a member of the WTO and its
>predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
>(Ray ZHANG)
2. Financial Times article: "China to enter WTO after signing US deal". You
can find the news from: http://www.ft.com/nbearchive/email-ftibwcq2db1c6.htm
3. Washingtong Post reported under the title: China's risky world venture,
with an article: "WTO move aims to reshape China's Future". The article can
be found at, http://www.washingtonpost.com/
The agreement will have significant impacts on urban-china. Your opinions
and suggestion of related sources of information are wellcome! Please send
your reply directly to urban-china list: [log in to unmask]
____________________________________________________________________________
Fulong Wu
Department of Geography, Tel: (44-1703) 595383
University of Southampton Fax: (44-1703) 593295
Southampton SO17 1BJ, Email: [log in to unmask]
United Kingdom WWW: http://www.soton.ac.uk/~fw/
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